There’s gutless, then there’s the truly gutless in charge of teaching children at the MCPS (Montgomery County Public Schools).

Other than banning the Blacksburg High School’s girl’s lacrosse team from wearing “Pray For Peace” t-shirts during warmups, the MCPS has also ordered a school librarian to remove a “Stand for Ukraine” display that featured Eastern European books and authors.

First would be the article penned by Todd Starnes or the conservative-leaning TownHall.com noted (emphasis mine);

The girl’s lacrosse team at Blacksburg High School in Virginia wanted to honor their coach, who had spent ten summers volunteering in Ukrainian orphanages.

So, t-shirts were designed and created – adorned with a simple, but profound message: “Pray for Peace.”

The young student athletes had no idea the t-shirts, which they wore during warmups, would land them on the frontline of a raging cancel culture battle.

Montgomery County Public Schools sent every team member an email ordering them to never again wear the shirts. Ever.

“The Girls Lacrosse Team is no longer permitted to wear the Pray for Peace t-shirts at home or away events as warm up gear,” the email read. “The message conveyed by the shirts, although positive in nature and well meaning, can be interpreted as religious and political in nature.”

The school district said the shirts were too religious and too political. A double-whammy.

“What is the peace from?” interim superintendent Annie Whitaker told The Roanoke Times. “A war. And a war is rooted in what? It’s a political war, from people who have differing views.”

Parent Clare Levison said the girls offered to replace the word “pray” with the word “play.” However, that compromise was rejected.

“Apparently, the administration of Montgomery County Public Schools wishes to remain neutral on praying, playing or even standing for peace,” Mrs. Levison wrote on her Facebook page. “

That’s why she bestowed upon the school board a special commendation: the “Insult My Intelligence Award.”

“Pray for Peace is not a religious statement that requires separation of church and state,” she wrote on Facebook. “It is one that all presidents in power, regardless of political party, reference on a regular basis.” “

When the top administrator of our county’s education system takes the stance that even peace is controversial, our moral compass hasn’t just been broken. It’s been shattered into a million tiny pieces,” Mrs. Levison wrote.

Then comes a report from Yann Ranaivo of The Roanoke Times (emphasis mine);

MCPS spokeswoman Brenda Drake reaffirmed the district’s stance on the matter Friday.

“There is a lot of misinformation circulating, and we have to protect our employees related to personnel concerns,” she wrote in a message that also addressed an issue with a recent school library display. “Neither incident is about student speech—that is protected even in the school building. Our staff members have to adhere to different standards as they approach religious, political and other controversial topics when working with students.”

Drake described the recent problem with the lacrosse shirts as a personnel concern. Regarding the library issue, she said a “Stand for Ukraine” display did not meet the standards for library displays, “specifically related to being fair and unbiased.”

For the BEST patriotic shirts for the best patriots among us!