Laurens County Schools replaces pre-game prayers with ‘moments of silence’

DEXTER, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – As Middle Georgians prepare for the first weekend of high school football, players in Laurens County will start their game a little differently.

The school district announced teams will no longer have a prayer session before games. Instead, they’ll have a moment of silence. 

New superintendent Dr. Juli Alligood says it all started after a complaint to West Laurens High School last school year. 

“The board met and decided to give Mr. Johnson the directive, the then superintendent, to talk to principals about changing that to a moment of silence. So anyone could observe a prayer or not,” Alligood says. 

The organization, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, sent a letter in May. 

Dr. Alligood says all schools in the district will observe the moment of silence at athletic events.