Here's a new twist to the Cedarburg Basketball Coaching controversy. Board member told resident fired coach was an atheist:

A Cedarburg School Board member told at least one resident that boys varsity basketball coach Ben Siebert was an atheist on the day that the board voted not to renew Siebert's coaching contract.

It could not be determined why board member Teri Wagner raised the atheism issue while responding via e-mail Wednesday to an e-mail she received from a Cedarburg woman who expressed outrage over the way the board was treating Siebert.

"One more note, Mr. Siebert announced to his basketball team more than once, that he is an Atheist, and does not believe in God," Wagner wrote in the e-mail.

Where do you start with something like this? First of all, it is certainly a twist from how most School/Church controversies go. Most of the time it's the fact that a teacher is outrightly Christian that gets them in trouble, not the fact that he's not. Second, and probably most obviously... How does that effect coaching basketball? This is a public school, not a parochial school. Third, this just re-enforces the reasons behind public meetings. If this had nothing to do with the decision, and was never discussed, we'd know it if people were in the meeting. But instead, they did it all behind closed doors which leads to innuendo, and rumor.