Praying coach on leave, deepening religion-in-school debate

SEATTLE (AP) — The coach of a Washington state high school football team who prayed at games despite orders from the school district to stop was placed on paid administrative leave after a group of self-described Satanists said it planned to attend a Thursday game to protest the practice.

Joe Kennedy, Bremerton High School's assistant football coach, was put on leave because he refused to comply with district directives to avoid overt religious displays on the field, Bremerton School District officials said in a statement late Wednesday.

Kennedy has vocally prayed before and after games, sometimes joined by students, since 2008. But the practice recently came to the district's attention, and…