MANCHESTER, Ga. – Georgia principal Michael Lehr thinks district officials are firing him because he gave a sermon at a Fellowship of Christian Athletes meeting.

But Lehr doesn’t really know for sure, because his superiors won’t give him a reason for not renewing his contract as head of Manchester High School for next year, WRBL reports.

“We’re all kind of baffled by the decision,” Lehr told the news site. “The superintendent has heard me pray at meetings before. She’s been beside me what I cite scripture at graduation. Her own board meetings begin with prayer.”

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Lehr position as an administrator doesn’t entitle him to the same employment perks as unionized teachers, and that means district officials aren’t obliged to give him a reason for his termination. But Lehr said the decision came two days after he led a student group in prayer during a voluntary Fellowship of Christian Athletes meeting because the normal faculty advisor was absent, WRBL reports.

Meriwether County Superintendent Carol Lane placed Lehr on paid administrative leave during his recent annual evaluation. The school board is expected to approve his termination at its next meeting May 12, according to the news site.

An unidentified member of Manchester’s Fellowship of Christian Athletes told WRBL Lehr “did our sermon and that was nice of him, but I didn’t think he would be fired for it, if that was the reason he was let go.”

Manchester High 2013 graduate Morgan Smith said there’s nothing unusual about praying at school.

“It really did surprise me because the four years I was in school, and even since then, we say a prayer at graduation, we pray a lot, it’s what we do,” Smith said. “It’s not forced upon anyone, but there is a prayer said.”

Parents were equally shocked by Lehr’s termination, and some were downright ticked off.

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“I want prayer in this school,” parent Angila Waddell told My Fox Atlanta. “I am proud to see our football team take a knee and pray before and after games. And also in clubs. We’re just shocked.”

“My son took it hard because he looks up to Dr. Lehr. He was always a mentor to the students, always good to the students,” she told WRBL.

“It is breaking our hearts … because it is not supposed to be like this,” another unidentified parent My Fox Atlanta.

Superintendent Lane, meanwhile, is hiding behind the cloak of personnel policy to avoid accountability for the termination.

Lane wrote in an email to WRBL:

“I never comment on personnel issues. I’m sorry that I cannot provide you with any information. Possibly at a later date. Thank you for your inquiry.”

Lane didn’t even bother to reply to other news agencies who attempted to contact her.