Alabama teacher told to change ‘just pray’ t-shirt
Usually it’s the students in a school who find themselves in violation of a school’s dress code policy, but on Monday one unsuspecting Alabama teacher found herself in the same position. Mobile, Ala. teacher Chris Burrell picked out a shirt to wear to teacher to class that had “just pray” on it. She had bought the shirt to help raise funds for Aubreigh Nicholes — a young girl from Semmes, Ala. who was diagnosed with diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma, a rare and inoperable brain tumor, in September of 2017. Burrell said she chose to wear the shirt because her students were testing that day and it was her “Monday feel good shirt.” Nevertheless the school’s principal didn’t approve of the shirt and asked Burrell to change it. “Getting sent home from work today to change my Just Pray. shirt. I purchased this shirt to raise money for #AubreighsArmy. I thought it was fitting to wear today since my kids were testing. I didn’t think twice about it. I wasn’t trying to promote religion, it was just my Monday feel good shirt. In my 15 years of teaching this has never been an issue. My heart hurts. #knowwhatmatter,” Burrell posted on Facebook after being told to change the shirt. Martha Peek, superintendent of Mobile County Public Schools said the shirt violated the dress code policy, which states teachers and students are not allowed to wear clothes that reflect particular beliefs. “We have to be cognizant of everyone’s beliefs or everyone’s thoughts in a public school,” Peek explained. No disciplinary action has been taken against Burrell.
