{"id":186920,"date":"2026-03-02T16:08:44","date_gmt":"2026-03-02T16:08:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/186920\/"},"modified":"2026-03-02T16:08:44","modified_gmt":"2026-03-02T16:08:44","slug":"school-districts-can-set-aside-prayer-time-under-a-new-texas-law-few-have-done-so","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/186920\/","title":{"rendered":"School districts can set aside prayer time under a new Texas law. Few have done so."},"content":{"rendered":"

\"StudentsStudents walk through the hallway at Lago Vista High School on Sept. 9, 2025 in Lago Vista. Credit: Texas Tribune \/ Sergio Flores<\/p>\n

Given an opportunity by the Texas Legislature to set aside time each day for students and staff to pray, most school districts appear to have declined the offer.<\/p>\n

Senate Bill 11<\/a> required Texas school boards to decide by March 1 whether to provide a daily devotional period, which students could attend during noninstructional hours to pray and read the Bible or other religious text, likely before school.<\/p>\n

But one of the key lawmakers who guided the bill through the Legislature has identified only 15 school districts that have opted into the prayer period. Many other urban, suburban and rural districts voted against it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI respect their opinion. They know their communities,\u201d said Rep. David Spiller<\/a>, R-Jacksboro. \u201cThat\u2019s not to say that they can\u2019t come back and revisit it. But this is not a mandate. I\u2019ve said very clearly from the start, this is not a mandate bill. The only thing that\u2019s mandated is if they consider it. They don\u2019t have to adopt it.\u201d<\/p>\n

SB 11 is part of a slate of bills approved in recent legislative sessions that aim to promote a conservative brand of Christianity in public education and test the legal limits of church-state separation.<\/p>\n

The Texas Legislature has passed laws requiring schools to post the Ten Commandments<\/a> in classrooms, allowing unlicensed chaplains to offer counseling services<\/a> to students and setting the foundation for an optional state curriculum<\/a> filled with references to Christianity.<\/p>\n

SB 11 requires school districts that establish the prayer period to obtain signed consent forms from interested families, which waive parents\u2019 right to sue the district for alleged violations of state or federal law and acknowledge that students have a choice to attend the religious gathering.<\/p>\n

The law prohibits schools from reading religious texts over a public address system, and school leaders must ensure the prayer period does not take place in the physical presence or within earshot of students who lack parental consent.<\/p>\n

More than 160 Texas faith leaders urged districts to oppose the policy<\/a>, noting the administrative burden, students\u2019 existing rights to practice their religion and the potential harm to children who decide not to participate. Civil rights advocates also argued the law violates the separation between church and state<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton<\/a> suggested otherwise, not only encouraging students to take advantage of prayer time but also suggesting they engage with the Lord\u2019s Prayer\u201d as taught by Jesus Christ.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

But many of Texas\u2019 roughly 1,200 districts and charters, including those in politically conservative communities, declined.<\/p>\n

They questioned how schools would manage the parental consent requirements. Some opposed what they saw as state leaders promoting a conservative vision of Christianity. Others pointed to federal, state and school policies that already allow students to organize religious clubs and prayer periods.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn reality, there was no need for it,\u201d said Alex Kotara, vice president of the Karnes City school district board, which is located in a conservative town southeast of San Antonio.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt passes the buck to local school districts to make that decision, but it also does it in a way that requires them to also opt out \u2014 not just opt in \u2014 which then, from an elected official standpoint, puts you in a position where, when they boil down a convoluted, kind of contradictory bill to a sound bite, it\u2019s going to be that we did not allow prayer in school,\u201d Kotara said.<\/p>\n

Spiller, the bill sponsor, acknowledged that federal and state laws already protect students\u2019 ability to practice their religion at school. But he believes SB 11 builds on existing protections by requiring participating schools to allow time for prayer each day.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not a gotcha bill,\u201d Spiller said. \u201cBut I think if boards just vote this down without forethought, consideration and seeking the will of their public, do I think that they will hear from it? Yes, I do. I think their constituents will let them know that they don\u2019t appreciate them, in many instances, blocking a right that they have when it costs the school nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Aledo school district in North Texas opted in, but board members didn\u2019t necessarily vote in favor of the period because they felt it expanded students\u2019 rights, said school board President Forrest Collins.<\/p>\n

\u201cBasically, the state Legislature forced us to vote on something schools already support, and our vote was really just to reaffirm the constitutional rights of students,\u201d Collins said. \u201cI felt like, personally, the bill was kind of a waste of time.\u201d<\/p>\n

This article first appeared on The Texas Tribune<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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