Most San Antonio school districts are saying “no” to adopting a daily time of prayer in schools allowed under a new state law.
Senate Bill 11 passed during the regular legislative session last year, giving school districts the option to adopt a “period of prayer and reading of the Bible or other religious text in public schools.”
The law requires parental consent and school districts have until March 1 to decide whether they want to enforce it or not. Texas education code already gives students the right to individually pray or meditate in school, as long as it’s not disrupting the school day.
That’s why several school districts in San Antonio are choosing not to enforce SB 11. District officials also say they could be opening themselves up to lawsuits by parents and community members who feel like religion is being regulated.
So far, the following San Antonio-area districts have rejected adopting a period of prayer or reading the Bible during the school day:
San Antonio Independent School District, North East ISD, Alamo Heights ISD, Harlandale ISD, Southwest ISD, Southside ISD, Somerset ISD, East Central ISD, Schertz-Cibolo-Universal City ISD, Medina Valley ISD and Lackland ISD.
Last week, Southwest ISD staff consulted with other employees and community members to compile a list of pros and cons of adopting a time of prayer.
On the pros side, adding a prayer time could be beneficial to students afraid of asking for “spiritual or mental health” support and that any “uplifting or motivating” programs should be considered. SWISD, like most school districts, already offer different student-based prayer and fellowship groups.
On the cons side, SWISD officials said adopting a prayer time could place an “undue burden on the campus teachers and administration” and could bring “liability to the district that does not currently exist.” Under state and federal law, students are already allowed to privately pray or read religious texts at “any time of the day that is not deemed instructional time.”
Before taking a vote Feb. 17, board member Florinda Bernal said she valued the freedom to express her religious beliefs as a person of faith.
“However, I do not believe it’s the role of our schools to police or monitor personal expressions of faith among faculty or students,” Bernal said. Other members agreed, and the board voted unanimously against adopting a designated time of prayer for every campus within the district.
At Schertz-Cibolo-Universal-City ISD, board member Belinda Evans said she had concerns about how adopting a time of prayer would impact bell schedules, keeping track of students who have parental consent versus those who don’t and where would students and staff meet to pray on campus.
“I could go on and on and on,” Evans said. “There are numerous questions to consider.”
As the deadline to adopt a policy approaches, school districts are being urged to make a decision from both sides of the debate.
At the same time, the state is being sued by families across Texas — one of the main plaintiffs being a family in the Alamo Heights area — to block the implementation of Senate Bill 10, requiring school districts to hang posters of the Ten Commandments in every classroom.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit began hearing argument in January on the Texas case and a similar one from Louisiana.
In September, Attorney General Ken Paxton encouraged Texas school districts to implement dedicated prayer time, emphasizing that SB 11 requires his office to defend any school district or charter school that adopts a policy.
“In Texas classrooms, we want the Word of God opened, the Ten Commandments displayed, and prayers lifted up,” Paxton said.
The ACLU of Texas has urged school districts to vote against allowing daily prayer periods in schools, and Texas faith leaders sent a letter to school boards to vote against SB 11’s “misguided state-organized prayer policy.”
“The responsibility for religious instruction lies with students, their families, and their local faith communities — not with public schools, and not organized or directed by the state,” the letter reads.
The letter is signed by several San Antonio faith leaders in Judaism, Islam and different sects of Christianity representing school districts like Alamo Heights ISD, Northside ISD and San Antonio ISD.
The following school districts are scheduled to vote on whether to adopt SB 11:
Edgewood ISD will vote on Feb. 23, Judson ISD on Feb. 26, Northside ISD on Feb. 26 and South San Antonio ISD on Feb. 23.
