Opinion ID: 3038677
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: 1983-2005 (Pre-litigation)

Text: Marcus Borden is the head football coach at East Brunswick High School (“EBHS”), and he has held that position since 1983.1 During his tenure at EBHS, Borden engaged in two pre-game prayer activities that occurred (1) at the team dinner; and (2) while taking a knee in the locker room. 1 Borden is also a tenured teacher of Spanish at EBHS. 5 As part of the pre-game activities for the EBHS football team, the team ate a pasta dinner together at approximately 3:00 p.m. on game day in the high school cafeteria. In addition to the team, parents and other guests, including the cheerleading squad, were present. Prior to the time Borden coached the team to 1997, a local minister, Reverend Smith, said a pre-meal prayer. However, in 1997, the athletic director told Borden that Reverend Smith could not continue to say the prayer. Instead, Reverend Smith wrote a prayer that the students took turns reading. Then, in 2003, Reverend Smith retired, and Borden did not continue to have the students read Reverend Smith’s prayer. Borden instead began a new tradition: he said the prayer prior to the first pre-game dinner of the 2003, 2004, and 2005 seasons. For the subsequent weeks of those seasons, Borden asked those attending the dinner to “please stand,” and chose a senior player to say a prayer. In addition to the prayer before the team dinner, Borden led his team in a prayer immediately before the game. Prior to taking the field, Borden and his assistant coaches asked the players to take a knee in the locker room. The team gathered in front of the chalkboard or dry erase board on one knee, and at that time, Borden discussed the tactics and strategy for that particular game. Following that discussion, Borden led the team in a prayer. Borden described an example of the prayer he said as follows: “[D]ear lord, please guide us today in our quest in our game, our championship. Give us the courage and determination that we would need to come out successful. Please let us represent our 6 families and our community well. Lastly, please guide our players and opponents so that they can come out of this game unscathed, [and] no one is hurt.” The team participated in this tradition for twenty-three seasons, beginning when Borden became the coach of the EBHS football team in 1983 and continuing until the 2005 football season. On September 26, 2005, Jo Ann Magistro, the Superintendent of the East Brunswick School District (“School District”), received a complaint from a parent about the prayer at the team dinner. The parent told Magistro that she thought it was inappropriate that Borden requested that everyone stand for the prayer and that he bowed his head during the prayer. Over the course of that week, two other parents complained to Magistro about the prayer. One of the complaining parents had a son on the team, and the parent told Magistro that her son felt uncomfortable during the prayer and feared that the coach would select him to say the prayer. Although Magistro did not contact Borden herself, the EBHS principal and athletic director contacted Borden about these complaints. They told him not to lead the team in prayer, and he responded that he did not lead them in prayer. At the team dinner on September 30, 2005, he continued the prayer traditions in the manner described above. It was alleged that he told the students that if they felt uncomfortable during the prayer, they could wait in the restroom until it was over. Following that game, Magistro received several more complaints. 7 On October 6, 2005, the School District’s counsel, Martin Pachman, advised Magistro and the East Brunswick Board of Education (“Board”) regarding Borden’s conduct, stating that a coach for the school could not lead, encourage, or participate in student prayer. Magistro met with Borden the next day, October 7, 2005, and told him that all prayer needed to be student initiated, including the selection of which student would recite the prayer. At that time, Borden asked her if he could continue to say the pre-game prayer in the locker room. In response, Magistro contacted Pachman, who answered Borden’s questions. At the end of the conversation, Magistro asked Pachman to provide clear guidelines on faculty participation in student prayer. Later that day, Magistro sent Borden a memorandum and attached the guidelines provided by Pachman. Magistro stated that she recognized Borden’s disappointment, but she expected him to comply with the guidelines, and “[n]ot to comply will be viewed as insubordination.” The attached guidelines, which stated that they were not “exhaustive or final,” were as follows: “1. Students have a constitutional right to engage in prayer on school property, at school events, and even during the course of the school day, provided that: A. The activity is truly student initiated; and 8