This teacher was sent home by the principal because her T-shirt said 'Just Pray'

A teacher's recent wardrobe choice resulted in her being sent home from work by the school's principal.

It was not too revealing, and it didn't have a vulgarity or disturbing image.

The issue was the two word message emblazoned on the front of the teacher's T-shirt — "Just Pray."

Chris Burrell, a public-school teacher in Mobile, Ala., posted on Facebook about being told to change or cover her shirt, or go home. Burrell has since deleted the post, but the explanation she provided for wearing the shirt has been captured online.

Burrell who teaches third grade at Pearl Haskew Elementary School, was sent home April 23, according to ibtimes.com. She posted about the incident the same day.

She wrote that she bought the shirt to support Aubreigh's Army. That is an online fundraiser to help Aubreigh Nicholas — an 11-year-old Alabama girl who is battling diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma, a rare and inoperable brain tumor, foxnews.com reported.

Burrell wrote that she chose that shirt because her students were taking tests that day and wanted to have positive feelings. It didn't work out that way.

"I didn't think twice about it," Burrell wrote on Facebook, which altoday.com reported. "I wasn't trying to promote religion, it was just my Monday feel good shirt.

If Burrell didn't think twice, the shirt caused the school's principal to do a double take.

"So at the point of looking and seeing 'pray' on it, the principal said, can you put on a sweater or something, knowing that there are other people who object to that — we have to be cognizant of everyone's beliefs or everyone's thoughts in a public school," Mobile County Public Schools Superintendent Martha Peek said, according to fox10tv.com.

Peek said that the shirt was a violation of the dress code policy, which applies to students and teachers, foxnews.com reported, adding that clothes reflecting certain beliefs cannot be worn to school.

According to wvtm13.com, the principal was not aware of the shirt's connection to Aubreigh's Army, which has raised $45,895 of its $50,000 goal.

"We're totally supporting her, I think that this was just an unfortunate connection there, but still the principal would have had to exercise her judgment," Peek said, according to fox10tv.com.

Although Burrell was sent home, no further disciplinary action has been taken against the teacher, altoday.com reported.

In spite of that, and the support Burrell received before deleting the Facebook post, she closed it on a down note.

"In my 15 years of teaching this has never been an issue. My heart hurts," Burrell wrote, adding "#knowwhatmatters."

A columnist on patheos.com praised the school district for the way it handled the situation, saying the rule would also prevent students or teachers from wearing a shirt that says, “Don’t pray.”

This story was originally published May 1, 2018 at 7:11 AM with the headline "This teacher was sent home by the principal because her T-shirt said 'Just Pray'."