Districts have until March 1 to decide whether to adopt policies setting aside time for voluntary prayer and the reading of religious texts.
BASTROP, Texas — Across Texas, school boards are considering whether to set aside time for a daily voluntary period of prayer or religious reading. Districts are approaching a deadline at the end of the month to decide on the matter.
It is the result of a new state law, Senate Bill 11, passed by state lawmakers during the regular legislative session last year.
SB 11 allows school boards to adopt policies setting aside time for voluntary prayer and the reading of religious texts. School boards are not required to set aside the dedicated time under the new state law, but they must vote on whether to do so.
It is voluntary, and parents must opt for their children to attend. It cannot interfere with instruction time, and parents must sign a consent form before a student can participate.
The daily period cannot advance or inhibit a specific religion, and it can’t be coercive, so if districts adopt the policy, students and staff who consent will be able to pray however they choose or read whatever religious text they choose.
According to the ACLU of Texas, 28 school districts across the state are expected to vote on whether or not to implement SB 11 over the next week. In Central Texas, the Liberty Hill ISD Board of Trustees voted no on Monday and the Bastrop ISD Board of Trustees voted no on Tuesday. The Lake Travis ISD Board of Trustees is set to vote on the measure Wednesday, and the Manor ISD Board of Trustees is expected to vote on the measure on Feb. 23.
“Bastrop ISD respects and honors the rich religious heritage of our nation and community, which is reflected in the policies the district has adopted to protect the religious freedom of its students and staff,” Bastrop ISD Chief Academic Officer Jennifer Eberly said.
Eberly said the district already has policies that allow students to engage in voluntary expression of religious viewpoints at school, through events and classroom assignments, and to organize prayer groups, religious clubs, and gatherings like “See You at the Poll.”
Eberly said in light of “existing and well-established protections for students and staff provided by federal law, state law and board policy,” the school board should decline to adopt the resolution, which they did.
During the Liberty Hill ISD Board of Trustees discussion on Monday night, Board member Chris Neighbors said the policy would put undue pressure on the district.
Especially when it comes to privacy guidelines during prayer, staffing needs to monitor those spaces, and extra paperwork for parental consent forms.
“I believe prayer is important. I believe most of us probably don’t do it enough, and we should do it a lot more than we already do. But the caveats, the rules, the gotchas, all of the things in this bill, spell, maybe disaster is an overstatement, but it’s not when you’re looking at maybe millions of dollars worth of lawsuits,” Neighbors said. “I think, definitely, we could all do more. Just all the different stuff, all the junk and baggage that comes along with this does not make sense.”
The Liberty Hill ISD Board of Trustees unanimously rejected setting aside time for prayer in its schools.
Caro Achar, ACLU of Texas Engagement Coordinator for Free Speech, said students and staff already have the right to pray, meditate or read religious texts in school silently.
“Texas students already have robust rights to voluntarily pray, to read religious literature, including the Bible, to engage in other religious activities during their free time, such as recess and lunch,” Achar said. “They can express their religious beliefs in school assignments. They are allowed to distribute religious materials the same way they would distribute non-religious materials. They’re allowed to form religious extracurricular clubs and gather with other students of the same religion.”
Earlier this month, Vidor ISD, located about 15 miles Northeast of Beaumont, close to the Texas-Louisiana border, unanimously approved setting aside voluntary time for students to pray or study on campus.
The district said it has begun sending out electronic consent forms to parents.
Superintendent Jay Killgo said the prayer time would be offered at all Vidor ISD campuses 30 minutes before school.
“Students may be looking for that quiet time each day in which they can pray or read their religious text,” Killgo said. “Most often we say the Bible, but actually, the legislation says it can be any religious text. We’ve got students of different denominations and religions in our school district, so it’s really that quiet time for them.”
Killgo said it will take place in a classroom, not in the library or a common area, because the participating students need to be separated from the other students who are not. Killgo said there would be a supervisor in the classroom to monitor things.
Killgo said he believes it is a valuable use of time for students.
“They’re very busy after school with practice, extracurriculars, chores, things of that nature,” Killgo said. “We can see where they may need that time, and so our legislature provided that time, and we decided to go ahead.”
Some districts have said finding a proper location is challenging because it must be private enough that non-participants cannot hear others praying or reading, yet large enough to accommodate the number of participants.
“The administrative burden of tracking permission slips of separating students, of monitoring the classrooms, of scheduling when the prayer periods would be, of resolving religious disputes, of appropriating the funds for if a student believes that their rights have been violated in this prayer period and pursues legal action,” Achar said. “This all takes away critical resources from schools that are already under-resourced and directs them to a program and a prayer period that doesn’t need to exist and directs them away from extracurriculars and education that does need to exist and support that needs to exist for those systems.”
Supporters of the legislation have argued that SB 11 is crafted to ensure it does not infringe on anyone’s religious beliefs or lack of belief, since students of all religions can participate so long as their parents allow them to.
But critics like the ACLU said the bill will erode the separation of church and state.
“Even though the bill on face is presented in a way that might not violate the free exercise or Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, the practice of the prayer period could very much air into unconstitutional territory, especially since there seems to be an emphasis that is being placed both by the text of the bill, which is specifically about Bible or other religious texts,” Achar said.
In September, Attorney General Ken Paxton encouraged all Texas schools to implement dedicated time for prayer and the reading of religious materials. He encouraged students to begin the prayer period with the Lord’s Prayer, a Christian prayer.
“These prayer periods might cause students who don’t practice a specific form of Christianity or Christianity at all to feel uncomfortable or to feel like their First Amendment rights are being violated,” Achar said.
Achar said adding prayer time can increase the risk of a student being excluded or bullied.
“If, for example, a teacher who under this bill is allowed to encourage students to pray or not pray, is leading a prayer period in the school that goes far beyond what students’ religious rights already are and creates the threat of actual religious indoctrination or retaliation or exclusion,” Achar said.
School districts across the state are required to vote on whether to adopt the policy by the March 1 deadline.