By Edmond Ortiz
Boerne Independent School District is one of only 15 Texas public school districts that are opting into a new state law that seeks to offer time for students and employees to pray on campus.
What you should know
More than 1,200 Texas public school districts and charters had until March 1 to decide whether they want to develop a policy to accommodate implementation of Senate Bill 11, which the 89th Texas Legislature passed last year.
SB11 calls on school districts to provide a daily, voluntary period of time, during non-classroom instructional hours, when students and staff may pray, read the Bible or other religious text, if they want.
But according to the office of State Rep. David Spiller, R-Jacksboro, one of the bill’s sponsors, only 15 school districts have decided to pursue a policy in order to allocate time for prayer.
The Boerne ISD was the lone public school district in the San Antonio metropolitan area to pass a resolution supporting adoption of SB 11.
The BISD school board voted 6-1 on Feb. 23 to approve a resolution with a caveat that the district has a right to end its new policy or cancel its implementation at any time, for any reason, if local officials so wish.
What they are saying
Trustee Dallas Pipes, who voted “no” on the resolution, said he supports the concept behind SB 11, but felt BISD could always come back later and opt into the law.
Other Boerne ISD trustees said the new law reaffirms a public desire to reemphasize the importance of the role that faith plays in a community, especially among local youth.
“I have kiddos who take their Bibles to school and read them whenever they’re done with their studies. That’s never been frowned upon by educators, and I appreciate that,” trustee Courtney Darter-Bruce said. “We live in a district that supports kids and wants to foster an environment where kids can practice their faith as individuals before and after school.”
However, elected leaders at other local school districts that have decided not to adopt SB 11 say their students and employees already have legally protected ways that they can pray or practice their faith on campus without infringing upon the line that separates church and state.
Some school board officials across the San Antonio area have said SB 11 represents a level of state governmental overreach, and that it would be a little challenging to ensure their district fully complies with the law.
According to SB 11, school districts that decide to allocate prayer time must get signed consent from parents interested in having their children participate in the prayer period. The new law also restricts the airing of religious readings over public address systems, and requires prayer periods take place physically far enough from children who choose not to participate.
Leaders at especially larger school districts that declined to adopt SB 11 said it would be harder for their campus teachers and administrators to keep track of which children have consent to take part in prayer time, and those who lack proper permission.
Other school leaders said districts, even enabled by the state government, should not affect personal matters such as when students can pray on campus.
Scheduling adequate times and finding suitable spaces for prayer periods, also, have come up as issues for local school district leaders concerned about implementing SB 11.
Trustee Megan Stratemann-Willis of the New Braunfels Independent School District said her decision to not go with SB 11 is about protecting “parental autonomy.”
“My opinion in choosing not to implement Senate Bill 11 is about ensuring school districts do not insert themselves into deeply personal family business,” she added.
