Kennedy was never disciplined by BHS for offering silent,
private prayers. In fact, the record shows clearly that
Kennedy initially offered silent, private prayers while on the
job from the time he began working at BHS, but added an
increasingly public and audible element to his prayers over
the next approximately seven years before the Bremerton
School District (BSD) leadership became aware that he had
invited the players and a coach from another school to join
him and his players in prayer at the fifty-yard line after the
conclusion of a football game. He was disciplined only after
BSD tried in vain to reach an accommodation with him after
he (in a letter from his counsel) demanded the right to pray
in the middle of the football field immediately after the
conclusion of games while the players were on the field, and
the crowd was still in the stands. He advertised in the area’s
largest newspaper, and local and national TV stations, that
he intended to defy BSD’s instructions not to publicly pray
with his players while still on duty even though he said he
might lose his job as a result. As he said he would, Kennedy
prayed out loud in the middle of the football field
immediately after the conclusion of the first game after his
lawyer’s letter was sent, surrounded by players, members of
the opposing team, parents, a local politician, and members
of the news media with television cameras recording the
event, all of whom had been advised of Kennedy’s intended
actions through the local news and social media
