Carmen Paige
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Religeous Persecution in America, Land of the Free!

Pace High School Principal Frank Lay took stock of himself.

"My faith is who I am," he said. "I am a Christian. I am a believer. I am not ashamed of the faith."

Lay was in his office at the high school where he is going into his 20th year as principal, talking easily about his religion, his values and his principles.

It's the office that teachers, parents and students visit day in and day out. Christians. Jews. Atheists. Agnostics. Blacks. Whites. Everyone who is part of the public school.

Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee looks over the office, a large portrait hanging on the wall. "I realize Gen. Lee didn't get on the right side in the war, but with his character and background, I don't think you would find a better gentleman," Lay said.

A credenza holds a collection of small items with a patriotic theme. Many of the knickknacks are red, white and blue. And in the middle is a Christian cross.

"I adhere to the tenants of Jesus Christ," Lay said. "I try to live what He says to do in regard to how you respond to other people and how you treat them."

Lay knows who he is, and he's not backing away from it.

But he's not the only one who knows what he stands for. He makes sure everyone within shouting distance knows, too, including people both inside and outside the school.

And that's the crux of the reason Lay now finds himself facing a date with a federal judge and the possibility of time behind bars.

'The Baptist Academy'

Last August, the American Civil Liberties Union sued the Santa Rosa County School Board, then-Superintendent John Rogers and Lay on behalf of two unnamed Pace High students.

Citing examples throughout the district, the students said school officials violated the Constitution by promoting their religious beliefs in schools.

For years, Lay had done exactly that, according to supporters and critics alike, and his actions had gone largely unchallenged.

His school of more than 1,800 students was known by some as "the Baptist Academy." His teachers and staff delivered prayers, or invited students or outside leaders to lead prayers, during sporting events and other activities. Teachers offered Bible readings or biblical interpretations and talked about the churches they attend. They assigned religion- oriented work to students and encouraged them to attend religious clubs.

Within a few months, the district admitted the allegations and hammered out an agreement that would take religion out of the classroom.

U.S. District Judge Casey Rodgers approved the agreement. A temporary injunction was issued on Jan. 19, then was made permanent on May 6.

Nine days later, after Lay signed the temporary injunction, he was accused of violating the order.

On Jan. 28, he asked the school athletic director, Robert Freeman, to "bless the food" at a luncheon at Pace High for school personnel and booster club members instrumental in helping get a new fieldhouse. The school's culinary class prepared the meal.

Four-term School Board member Jo Ann Simpson, who was at the luncheon, couldn't believe her ears.

She reported what happened to Superintendent Tim Wyrosdick and the district's lawyers.

"I have the obligation to report someone breaking one of our policies in the consent decree, and that is what I did," Simpson said last week.

Lay later would be unapologetic.

"We did what we normally do in the South before we eat," he said. "I wasn't trying to hurt or offend anybody or cause any consternation."

Simpson does not buy Lay's self-exoneration.

"I pray if I eat a sandwich by myself or go to a restaurant," she said. "But I know I can't pray before I eat in front of a group of schoolchildren.

"People will say it is a vendetta brought against Frank Lay by me. It's no vendetta. Frank Lay is an employee who did wrong. I am duty-bound and sworn to uphold our practices."

Last month, after a series of legal filings, Rodgers ordered Lay and Freeman to appear on criminal contempt charges alleging they violated her order.

Their hearing is set for Sept. 17, and the possible punishment could range from fines to jail.

Protesting the prohibition

While the lunchtime prayer is the issue before the court, Lay garnered far more publicity after Wyrosdick decided, on the advice of the district's lawyers, that the Student Government Association president and senior class president could not speak at graduation ceremonies.

The rationale: Faculty and administrators help select those student officers. If one of them chose to give a prayer in violation of the court order, it would constitute an endorsement by the school and place school officials in jeopardy of being held in contempt of court.

Lay was outraged.

And, when a minister from the Pace Assembly of God organized a protest rally at the church on May 26, Lay had a forum to express his outrage.

The assembly included a video in which the narrator spoke about “the ways the ACLU has been encroaching on the rights of Americans for years.”

Afterward, Lay strode to the podium and launched into a fiery speech, exhibiting all the style and confidence of a television evangelist.

His opening line: “I’m thankful for that video because up until now I thought the ACLU stood for the Anti-Christian League for the Underworld. Now I know better.”

Hundreds of students and parents cheered as Lay vowed to fight the prohibition against the student government leaders speaking.

“No way are we going to back down, back off, lay down or roll over,” he said. “I’m old. I don’t want to fight, but I still have a few rounds left in me.”

He insisted he wasn’t blaming anyone.

“We ought to take responsibility,” he said. “The blame game is the devil’s game. It is the devil’s distraction for what we need to do, and we need to get busy as Christian people.”

Lay said some people had told him that speaking at the rally could cost him his job.

“Guess what,” he said to the crowd. “I was looking for one when I got the one I’ve got. I got something inside me, and it’s called the Holy Spirit.”

Ultimately, Lay did not press the issue of the students speaking, and they didn’t end up doing so. Still, he does not apologize for his remarks at the rally.

“I was just defending my kids,” he said. “I wasn’t trying to tie it all into the consent decree. I have a moral responsibility in my mind to stand up for these kids.”

Close colleagues

Lay’s actions have put Wyrosdick on a tightrope.

Wyrosdick, 46, is an elected superintendent in a bedrock conservative community.

Wyrosdick and Lay are longtime friends and colleagues. They first met when Lay was Wyrosdick’s freshman orientation teacher at Pace High. Since they’ve both been in the School District, they’ve been each other’s boss at various times.

Never, Wyrosdick said, has he ever looked at Lay as a subordinate.

“I think of Frank as a friend first, as a mentor, and somewhere down the line, as a principal,” he said. “Our relationship is,

I have to be superintendent and he has to be principal, but it is never that.”

So, for the past year, Wyrosdick has struggled to balance political and personal relationships as well as abide by the court with which he’s not entirely comfortable.

His mixed feelings were addressed in a public statement during the fracas over the student speakers.

“While I personally wish this situation was different, I have taken an oath to uphold the laws and constitution of this state and country, and I must do so,’’ he said.

After the luncheon prayer incident, Wyrosdick gave written reprimands to Lay and Freeman. But the reprimands were gentle.

The reprimand says Lay “shared’’ with Wyrosdick a narrative of what happened at
the luncheon. Then it says: “This note is to share with you written instructions to avoid this type of action as it is not permitted as per the attached injunction.’’

The letter also thanks Lay for his “honesty and character’’ in describing the incident. Its last line reads: “As well, let me thank you for your leadership at Pace High School.’’

Their relationship remains solid, Wyrosdick said.

“Frank understands I am superintendent and respects that, and we move on,” he said. “We have a saying, ‘We won’t break up over it.’ ”

Santa Rosa roots

Lay’s roots in Santa Rosa County and in its school system run deep.

John Gordon and Margaret Lay raised their children — Gordon, Bryant, Jeanette and Frank — in modest surroundings.

“They eked out a living on Highway 90 running a small, rural country store,” Lay said. “Most of the business was on credit. It was typical of that era of hand-to-mouth living.”

When Lay was 10, his father died. His mother continued to make ends meet and keep her family intact.

“My parents loved us, nurtured us and gave us opportunities,” he said. “I feel like a blessed human being simply because they invested in us.”

Young Frank graduated from Milton High School, then headed to Troy State University to earn a bachelor’s degree in physical education. He’d later earn a master’s degree from Georgia State University in the same field.

“My parents gave us roots and turned us loose,” Lay said. “They didn’t expect us to hang around.”

After seven years of teaching, Lay was offered a job as a coach and teacher at Pace High. Twelve years later, he would become principal.

Support and criticism

Lay’s solid base of supporters includes the Rev. Ted Traylor, pastor of Olive Baptist Church. A member of that church for 10 years, Lay is a deacon and Bible teacher.
Traylor believes the consent decree is unconstitutional.

“If it continues to stand as it is, we are going to see an avalanche of these kinds of things where teachers cannot bow their heads to pray,” Traylor said. “The consent order needs to be overturned, and I know there is work being done to make a run at that. There needs to be some common sense in the way they are dealing with this issue.”

Traylor called Lay a family man with great integrity.

“I’ve had Mr. Lay speak in my pulpit, so I have the ultimate confidence in him as I do not turn that loose lightly,” he said. “He is a strong leader, and we have a great relationship.”

Many in Santa Rosa are puzzled over the contempt charge.

“A blessing over a meal to me is not evangelism or proselytizing,” said Dana O’Keefe, mother of two Pace High graduates. “It’s just thanking a higher power for a meal.”

Robert Smith, who owns an insurance agency in Milton, and several other friends of Lay have set up a Web site and a Lay/Freeman Defense Fund to help pay legal expenses or potential fines. They also are selling T-shirts and plan a concert and dinner fundraiser Sept. 10 at the Farmer’s Opry.

“I don’t think people realize Frank Lay is a patriotic American citizen and a law-abiding American citizen,” Smith said. “He is a man of character and integrity, and that is why I am helping him.”

Recently, however, a few critics have spoken out.

Philip and Irma Yale of Munson, who had three children graduate from Pace High, wonder why Lay has not been removed from his job.

“He is not above the law,” Philip Yale said. “There is only one God, and it isn’t Frank Lay.”

Meagan Severt, 18, a 2009 Pace High graduate, said she felt uncomfortable at times with what she perceived as a Christian environment at the school.

“Mr. Lay creates the environment by hiring people who do the same things,” she said. “In the classroom, teachers would openly discuss their religious views,” she said.

Lay has become a martyr for the case, Meagan said.

“It’s almost as if he knows what he is doing,” she said. “I believe he is honest and out front about his beliefs, and that bothered me when I was a student.”

'It's about freedom'

Lay’s wife, Nancy Barron Lay, who teaches reading at Pace High, said the lawsuit has taken its toll. The high school sweethearts are celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary this month.

We’ve gone through every realm of emotion you can experience,” she said. “He has stood really firm. It’s not a journey I would wish on anyone, but Frank has done an excellent job handling it.”

She said her husband is fighting a battle that needs to be fought.

“It is about freedom,” she said. “It lies in the Constitution and our rights as
Americans.”

Frank Lay said he has grown weary of being on what he called a roller-coaster ride over the past year. He said he has complied with the consent decree, but he complained that its constraints create angst for him and his staff.

“You are fearful what you can and cannot say,” he said. “If a kid sneezes and you say ‘Bless you,’ what then?

“You get tired of it — tired of hearing it, tired of dealing with it. We should be pushing on toward academic achievement, helping kids grow and develop, and moving on into the world. It’s been a distraction.”

Lay said he will retire from the School District after the next school year, but he plans to keep on working in some capacity. He said a run for political office is not on his agenda now, but he would consider it.

“All I’ve ever wanted to do is be a high school principal. So, that’s it right now,’’ he said. “But I’m not saying I won’t, and I’m not closing any doors.”

The Lays are looking ahead to the hearing before Rodgers with a sense of equanimity.

Nancy Lay wishes her husband did not have to appear in court but isn’t worried.

“It is ridiculous to go through a court hearing because you said ‘Bless the food’ at a luncheon with adults,” she said.

Frank Lay trusts Rodgers will do what’s right.

“I’m hoping she’ll be very gracious that day,” he said with a smile. “She will do what she is called to do. If that means hammering me, so be it. But I hope that’s not the case.
Additional Facts
Henry Frank Lay

--Age: 60

-- Resides: Pace.

-- Family: Wife, Nancy Barron Lay. Four children: Dr. Kristopher Lay, 38, ear, nose and throat surgeon, Valdosta, Ga.; Kace Lay Browning, 36, English teacher, Pace High School; Kara Lay Whitney, 32, second-grade teacher, Lakeland; Klinton Lay, 26, Woodlawn Beach Middle School civics and social studies teacher and Navarre High School coach. Eight grandchildren from ages 2 to 11.

-- Church: Olive Baptist Church in Pensacola.

-- Education: Milton High School, 1966; Troy State University, bachelor's degree, physical education, 1970; Georgia State University, master's degree, physical education, 1974.

-- Hobbies: Reading, music, hiking and biking. He recently read "The Survivors Club: The Secret Science of How to Save Your Life," a book of inspirational stories.

He likes the music group Third Day, a Christian group, as well as Lynyrd Skynyrd.