After Texas passed Senate Bill 11, school boards across the state faced a deadline to decide whether they would participate in a new option for daily prayer time tied to religious reading. The law allows students and staff to attend a devotional period during noninstructional hours to pray and read the Bible or other religious text, likely before school, according to the Associated Press report distributed on March 2.
The uptake appears limited. The report says Spiller and other key lawmakers guided the measure, but only 15 school districts have opted into the prayer period, while many other districts—urban, suburban and rural—voted against it.
Rep. David Spiller, R-Jacksboro, described the policy as optional rather than required. “I respect their opinion. They know their communities,” Spiller said, referring to districts that declined the measure. He added that “this is not a mandate,” and that “The only thing that’s mandated is if they consider it. They don’t have to adopt it.”
Senate Bill 11 is part of a broader legislative push in recent sessions that aims to promote conservative Christianity in public education and test the legal limits of church-state separation, the report says. Texas lawmakers, it notes, have also passed laws requiring schools to post the Ten Commandments in classrooms, allowing unlicensed chaplains to offer counseling services to students, and setting the foundation for an optional state curriculum filled with references to Christianity.
Under SB 11, school districts that establish the prayer period must use signed consent forms from interested families. The report says the forms waive parents’ right to sue the district for alleged violations of state or federal law and acknowledge that students have a choice about whether to attend the religious gathering.
The law also sets operational constraints. The report says schools cannot read religious texts aloud 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 do not have parental consent.
More than 160 Texas faith leaders urged districts to oppose the policy, the report says, citing administrative burdens and students’ existing rights to practice their religion, as well as potential harm to children who choose not to participate. Civil rights advocates also argued SB 11 violates the separation between church and state.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton urged students to take advantage of prayer time, and the report says he suggested they engage with the Lord’s Prayer “as taught by Jesus Christ.” Still, many districts appear to have declined the measure, including districts in politically conservative areas.
A Karnes City school board vice president, Alex Kotara, said he viewed the proposal as unnecessary because students already have ways to practice religion and organize prayer in school, according to the report. Kotara said the state passed the responsibility to local districts while requiring them to opt out as well as opt in, framing the decision as a political and administrative burden rather than a straightforward addition.
Spiller acknowledged that federal and state laws already protect students’ ability to practice their religion at school. But he said SB 11 builds on existing protections by requiring participating schools to allow daily time for prayer. “It’s not a gotcha bill,” Spiller said. “But 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.”
Some districts did opt in. The Aledo school district in North Texas agreed to participate, but board members, according to the report, did not necessarily vote for the period because they viewed it as expanding students’ rights. Forrest Collins, the school board’s president, said the legislature effectively forced a vote on something schools already supported, and that Aledo’s vote was meant to reaffirm constitutional rights.
Collins said, “Basically, 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.” He added, “I felt like, personally, the bill was kind of a waste of time.”