Keller students soon will have time set aside each day to pray or read any religious text on campus — a change approved by trustees during a narrow vote Sept. 24.
A night earlier, Northwest ISD’s board voted unanimously against doing the same.
They are the first two districts in Fort Worth weighing a new state law requiring every school board to publicly decide by March 1 whether to create the designated period for voluntary prayer and religious reading. Other Fort Worth-area districts have yet to take up the matter.
If trustees approve, public school districts must obtain signed consent from parents or employees before participation. The forms also require families to waive their constitutional rights and the right to sue under the First Amendment establishment clause that prohibits government-sponsored religion.
Prayer cannot be broadcast over a loudspeaker or take place during instructional time.
Nonparticipants must not be within hearing range.
And, the Texas attorney general’s office is required to defend public schools against legal challenges.
“It’s not forcing anyone to participate — it’s giving them a place to participate if they so choose,” Keller ISD trustee Chris Coker said. “I think it’s a good thing.”
State law already allows students and employees to pray individually or in groups during noninstructional time, as long as they are not disruptive.
Keller ISD adopts prayer period in schools
Keller trustees voted 4-3 to allow for the prayer time in schools with Chelsea Kelly, Jennifer Erickson and Randy Campbell opposed.
Keller ISD administrators must draft a policy, which will spell out when and where prayer may occur and how staff will supervise it. District officials acknowledged additional duty assignments would fall to campus administrators.
Some trustees wrestled with questions about cost, scheduling and supervision.
“There’s a lot of unknowns,” said Kelly, noting potential conflicts with before- and after-school activities as well as the logistics of ensuring nonparticipants are not within hearing range.
Erickson said the measure is “redundant,” pointing to existing Bible clubs and other faith-based groups on Keller ISD campuses. She asked Superintendent Cory Wilson if the resolution would do anything to improve student outcomes or academic growth.
“Not to my knowledge,” Wilson replied.
Supporters argued the vote affirms religious liberty.
“This is the state requiring each board to take a stand on guaranteeing religious liberty in our schools,” Coker said. “I don’t see a problem with that at all.”
Community members were similarly divided.
Keller resident Matthew Mucker, who is involved in ongoing litigation against the board, told trustees the resolution is political theater.
“The implementation details required by this law are onerous and virtually impossible to implement,” Mucker said.
Keller High School student Kaitlyn Gromatzky sees it differently.
“By voting for prayer, we’re giving this generation the choice and right to embrace their faith within these schools,” Gromatzky, president of the campus’s Turning Point USA chapter, told the board.
Northwest ISD rejects prayer period
Northwest ISD trustees rejected the prayer period after district lawyers noted that those on campuses can already do so.
Christie Hobbs, the district’s general counsel, emphasized just before the vote that decades of U.S. Supreme Court precedent and existing state law give students and staff broad religious rights at school.
“Students in Northwest ISD organize religious clubs like Fellowship of Christian Athletes. … They gather at the flagpole to pray. They can read the Bible, the Torah or the Quran during lunch,” Hobbs told trustees. “Senate Bill 11 doesn’t actually advance the rights of staff or students in the school setting.”
However, creating the prayer period would trigger new requirements, including parental consent forms that waive constitutional rights and the need to hold prayer in segregated spaces.
“Americans should be wary of people who are asking them to waive their constitutional rights,” Hobbs said.
Trustees praised Hobbs for the explanation before voting unanimously to decline the resolution.
“I pray all the time, but my prayer is my prayer,” President Jennifer Murphy said. “Our students do that too.”
Fort Worth-area public schools await guidance
The push for more religion in public schools is part of broader efforts in state policy — including the optional Bluebonnet Learning program that uses Bible stories in reading lessons and a new law requiring every public classroom to display the Ten Commandments.
“Religious freedom is a bedrock principle upon which America was founded, recognizing our rights come directly from God, not the government,” Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said in a March statement.
Most nearby districts have not yet acted on the new prayer law.
The Fort Worth ISD board has not yet scheduled a vote but will do so before the March 1 deadline, spokesperson Jessica Becerra said.
Arlington ISD trustees expect to take up the matter later this fall, spokesperson Taina Northington said. Hurst-Euless-Bedford ISD officials expect to do so early next year, said district representative Deanne Hullender.
Eagle Mountain-Saginaw ISD officials have not scheduled a vote or sought legal guidance, spokesperson Matthew LeBlanc said. Officials in Castleberry and Everman ISDs said they are consulting with lawyers on the matter.
Officials from Aledo, Lake Worth, Crowley, Burleson and White Settlement ISDs did not respond to inquiries.
Matthew Sgroi is an education reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at matthew.sgroi@fortworthreport.org or @matthewsgroi1.
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