Brittany Kelley
SAN MARCOS — A Hays CISD parent has gathered more than 100 signatures in an effort to prevent the district in participating in the newly-enacted Senate Bill 10 (SB10).
According to the bill, “a public elementary or secondary school shall display in a conspicuous place in each classroom of the school a durable poster or framed copy of the Ten Commandments.” This poster must be legible and be at least 16 inches wide by 20 inches tall and include the following text:
“The Ten Commandments
I AM the LORD thy God.
Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou salt not take the Name of the Lord thy God in vain.
Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.
Thou shalt not kill.
Thou shalt not commit adultery.
Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his cattle, nor anything that is thy neighbor’s.”
SB 10 was proposed and, subsequently, approved, during the 89th Texas Legislature. It took effect Sept. 1.
When Hays CISD parent Alexis Davis found out about SB10, she felt she had to do something to try to stop it.
Davis married an educator, she explained, so they often attempt to keep up with aspects that may affect his career, along with their children, one of which is in school and the other set to begin next year. Despite this, time got away from the family and when she received the first initial email describing what the district planned on doing to cooperate, she was shocked.
“I just didn’t want it to happen. I think that was my very initial reaction was, ‘How is this happening in public school and why are we not stopping it?' I feel like it’s just this constitutional idea that we have freedom of religion in this country and we have the freedom to pick what religion we want to follow and how we want to follow it,” said Davis.
She stated that, in her opinion, it would be a different situation if teachers were able to decide whether the posters were displayed in their classrooms, but as it is, teachers are forced to have the Ten Commandments in their classrooms, whether they believe in them or not.
Along with this concern was the fact that her elementary-aged child, who Davis described as inquisitive, will most likely be coming home and questioning what adultery is, forcing her to have a conversation earlier than intended.
Davis also said that it is bizarre to have a poster displaying “archaic language,” alongside signs encouraging students to sound out letters and do basic math.
Furthermore, it could cause confusion among children, since they view school as a place of authority that will teach them right and wrong. So, by placing these posters in a classroom, it is alluding to the fact that these Ten Commandments are the “right way,” she said.
“There’s more than one [right] way and more than one religion, more than one way to exist in the world. So, for our state to tell you this is what’s right and this is what everybody has to do, it feels like a loss of our First Amendment rights,” Davis expressed.
Davis began voicing her concerns to those around her who also have children in school and received a similar response from parents across many religions. Because of this, she started a petition to inform the district that there were parents within Hays CISD that opposed the requirement.
“I’ve been following the back and forth since [Rabbi Nathan vs Alamo Heights Independent School District] and I felt like maybe a little pressure from the student body and the parents of the district would help our district make a different decision regarding the posters,” said Davis.
The petition, which is located at MoveOn.Org, has more than 150 signatures and states that the mandatory display of the Ten Commandments is a violation of the First Amendment and that “upholding the constitutional separation of church and state is essential to maintain religious freedom and neutrality in our public institutions.”
The reaction has been positive, shared the mother, but there have been some negative responses that choose to ignore the purpose of the petition: “I felt like the people who were against it were a little bit tongue-in-cheek and being like, ‘Oh, yeah, wouldn’t that be horrible if we taught kids not to murder.’ That’s not what I’m trying to say here,” Davis said.
After reaching more than 100 signatures, she shared the petition with superintendent Dr. Eric Wright, chief communication officer Tim Savoy and her childrens’ principal.
Days later, Wright sent out an email to all parents in the district, which Davis states she believes was a response to the petition.
The message states the following: “It is our long-term practice in Hays CISD to do our best to shield our schools from ensnarement in political entanglements. These settings are often divisive and contentious, causing distraction from our focus on providing students with the excellent educations they deserve … As a governmental entity that serves tens of thousands of students and parents, it’s not the district’s place to take sides or even appear to do so. We serve everyone. However, with the new state law requiring the district to post the Ten Commandments in every classroom (Senate Bill 10), we find ourselves caught in the middle of an ideological contest that is not of our choosing … As a political subdivision of the State of Texas, the district is bound by its laws and mandates — even those rife with current legal uncertainty.”
The district also clarified that it has received donations of the posters for its 2,550 classrooms through My Faith Votes/Million Voices, with assistance from Restore American Schools.
“One of the arguments of the state for displaying the Ten Commandments in schools is that they are foundational, historical concepts that have shaped many of the laws of the United States. That description fits the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution — the Bill of Rights, which also happens to be the primary argument against posting the Ten Commandments in classrooms … While Senate Bill 10 prohibits any other content besides the Ten Commandments on the Ten Commandments posters, there is no restriction that would prevent Hays CISD from displaying the Bill of Rights next to or near the Ten Commandments posters. The district intends to do this to give students a broader understanding of not only the responsibilities by which they might choose to live, but also the important individual freedoms they enjoy as Americans or while on American soil,” read the email.
The Bill of Rights posters were purchased using money from Hays CISD, according to the district’s website.
“I think it’s a nice pat on the back of the people who are like, ‘We don’t want this,’” said Davis in response to the email. “I’m an adult and I can understand and appreciate the juxtaposition of those two things … [but in school], I don’t know that the nuance of what it’s stating is going to be discussed.”
Additionally, she felt disappointed that the district purchased the Bill of Rights posters on its own, as funding is already extremely limited for public schools and that the money could have been well-suited elsewhere in a way that would benefit the children.
Davis shared that, ultimately, she would have liked for the district to hold out on its decision to display the posters for as long as they could, while the courts determine if it is a violation or not.
According to Hays CISD, an Aug. 20 ruling by a federal judge in San Antonio temporarily halted the requirement to display the Ten Commandments in classrooms, due to legal challenges brought forth by school districts. However, this ruling only applied to the districts specifically named in the lawsuit, which does not include Hays CISD.
Despite the email explanation from the district, Davis intends to continue pushing for change.
“My goal is to try and stay on top of what’s happening and then, try to get more involved in the school district at the campus level and just make sure that the voices are being heard from people who might not agree with the laws that are being created,” concluded Davis.
The “Keep the Ten Commandments out of Hays CISD” petition can be found at bit.ly/4mClX5t. More information on the district’s policy regarding the posters can be found at www.hayscisd.net/page/tencommandments.
