Administrator Sues Cobb School District In Yoga Flap

KENNESAW, GA -- The Cobb County School District is embroiled in a lawsuit after an assistant principal claims she was sent to a "lower-performing" school because she introduced yoga to elementary students, Patch has learned.

The suit, which was filed this week in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, notes that the Cobb district has violated the administrator's First Amendment rights and is hypocritical because the district supports Christian-themed correspondence, such as emails titled “Christian-based Daily Scripture Devotionals,” according to news reports.

Bonnie Cole, who works now at Mableton Elementary, said that when she brought yoga to children at Bullard Elementary in Kennesaw last year, parents were so disturbed that they held a prayer rally there “for Jesus to rid the school of Buddhism," the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

The issue came to a head in March 2016, leading Bullard Principal Patrice Moore to issue an apology to parents, saying, "I am truly sorry that the mindfulness/ de-stressing practices here at Bullard caused many misconceptions that in turn created a distraction in our community. While we have been practicing de-stressing techniques in many classrooms for years, there have been some recent practices associated with mindfulness that are offensive to some.”

Offensive is putting it mildly: In a sign of how much the parents rebuked the practice of yoga, which they say has religious overtones, they also banned the word "Namaste." In many parents' view, having a yoga program at the school was just another attempt to force religion upon the impressionable minds of schoolchildren.

"No prayer in schools. Some don't even say the pledge, yet they're pushing ideology on our students," Cobb County mother Susan Jaramillo told WXIA-TV at the time. "Some of those things are religious practices that we don't want our children doing in our schools."

So now the issue will be settled in court, where witnesses must put their hand on a Bible and swear to tell the truth.

Cole is seeking damages related to emotional stress, suffering, loss of professional reputation, mental anguish and a host of other conditions.

Reached by multiple outlets for reaction, the Cobb district said that it did not comment on pending litigation.

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