(The Center Square) – First Liberty Institute sent a letter to a Tennessee school board, urging approval of a family’s request to start faith-based athletic clubs, after the principal placed the proposal on hold. 

A Tennessee dad, Josh Gibb, and his sons, students at Smith County Middle School and Carthage Elementary School, sought to lead faith-based athletic clubs, where students can pray, encourage one another in their faith, and listen to a devotional. Both schools are in Carthage, Tennessee.

The principal placed the request on hold pending guidance from the Smith County Board of Education, saying that the school wants to “meticulously follow all state and federal laws,” according to the letter.  

“We appreciate the district’s commitment to following the law,” said Holly Randall, attorney for First Liberty, a national organization dedicated to defending religious freedom. “Federal and state law, along with both constitutions, clearly protect students’ rights to form religious clubs.”

The letter warns that denying the faith-based club would violate the First Amendment and requests that the Smith County Board of Education approve the faith-based athletic club to uphold students’ religious freedom.

“It is a fundamental principle of the First Amendment that students do not shed their constitutional rights at the schoolhouse