Bremerton School District

At the March 16 regular meeting, the Bremerton School District Board of Directors voted to approve an agreement to settle the claim for attorney fees with Joe Kennedy's attorneys in the amount of $1,775,000. You can find more information regarding the Kennedy vs Bremerton case on the District website.

The Bremerton School District’s priorities have always been protecting the rights and safety of students while ensuring that all students receive an exemplary education. That’s why, when we learned that a district employee was leading students in prayer, we followed the law and acted to protect the religious freedom of all students and their families.

The school district offered repeatedly to accommodate Mr. Kennedy’s desire to pray, as long as he was not delivering prayers to students or coercing students to join him. Mr. Kennedy’s lawyers refused to accept any resolution that didn’t include Mr. Kennedy praying in a way that involved students. For nearly seven years the lower courts ruled repeatedly that Mr. Kennedy’s actions were a violation of the Establishment Clause.

The U.S. Supreme Court decision affirmed the long-settled law that prohibits public school employees from doing anything that pressures or coerces students on religious matters. The Bremerton School District will fully comply with Supreme Court’s order to treat Mr. Kennedy’s personal religious conduct the same way the district treats all other personal conduct by coaches at football games.

The Bremerton School Board, in partnership with District Leadership, will work to ensure that the Bremerton School District remains a welcoming, inclusive environment for all students, families, and school staff.

We look forward to moving past the distraction of this nearly 8-year legal battle so that our school community can focus on what matters most: providing our children the best education possible.

Alyson Rotter

President

Bremerton School District Board of Directors

The District has reached an agreement to settle the attorney fees claim for $1,775,000. The agreement was approved by the board of directors in an open public meeting on March 16.

Attorneys fees will be paid in interest-free installments over three fiscal years. No single student service or program will be eliminated or solely bear the brunt of this expense. A school district’s budget must have built-in flexibility to account for unknown factors that can occur during the school year (such as enrollment, fuel costs, food costs, utility costs, unfunded mandates, etc.). In alignment with the board and District’s fiscal responsibility, we will look for every available contingency and efficiency to minimize the impact on students.

The extent of insurance coverage is the subject of continuing discussions between the school district and its insurers.

A: The school district offered repeatedly to accommodate Mr. Kennedy’s desire to pray, as long as he was not delivering prayers to students or coercing students to join him. Mr. Kennedy’s lawyers refused to accept any resolution that didn’t include Mr. Kennedy praying in a way that involved students. The school district’s first priority had to be, and remains, protecting students’ religious freedom.

There was no opportunity for the District to “settle” because we had to abide by the lower court rulings holding that Mr. Kennedy’s actions were a violation of the Establishment Clause. We could not ignore those rulings.

Mr. Kennedy will be an assistant football coach for Bremerton High School for the 2023 season.

Mr. Kennedy has completed human resources paperwork and we are awaiting the results of his fingerprinting and background check. Mr. Kennedy will need to complete all training required by WIAA.

Football coach contracts are approved annually by the Board at the first August Board meeting, and begin in mid-August. As with any other assistant coach, Mr. Kennedy will be included in coaching staff communication and meetings, spring football practice and other off-season football activities.

A: Mr. Kennedy’s stipend as an assistant football coach will be $5,304. Coaching stipends are paid out over the length of the activity, unless they request a lump sum payment at the end of the season.

A: It is a matter of court record that Mr. Kennedy was not fired and never reapplied for his job for the 2016 season.

This brief was filed by the Bremerton School District with the Supreme Court in March of 2022; in particular, pages 20-23 of the pdf (pages 11-14 of the actual brief) detail the timeline in 2015-16 of Mr. Kennedy being placed on paid administrative leave, his contract expiring at the end of the season and that he never reapplied for a job as an assistant football coach.

Mr. Kennedy is not a certificated teacher and has never worked in any other capacity for the District other than as an assistant football coach.

A: The Supreme Court decision in Kennedy vs Bremerton School District affirmed the long-settled law that prohibits public school employees from doing anything that pressures or coerces students on religious matters. The District has updated procedures to ensure that we satisfy our obligations to protect the religious freedom of all our students and their families as well as all District employees.

5281P outlines procedures and guides the implementation of Policy 5281. The intent of 5281P is:

1. to support district employees by providing guidance on the rules pertaining to personal conduct while supervising students at district events, and
2. to satisfy our obligation to protect the religious freedom of our students and their families and district employees.

The Bremerton School District will fully comply with the court’s order to treat Mr. Kennedy’s personal religious conduct the same way the district treats all other personal conduct by coaches at football games. The District remains steadfast in its commitment to respecting the rights and religious freedom of students, families, and school staff.

The District is also responsible for keeping all school events safe for the students we serve. 4200P outlines the guidelines for limiting access to event performance space and athletic fields/courts before, during and after District-sponsored events and activities.

Email: bsd-board@bremertonschools.org
Website: BremertonSchools.org/SchoolBoard
Phone: 360-473-1000
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