WIMBERLEY — Following the passage of Senate Bill (SB) 11, which provided the option to have a “Daily Prayer Period” in place across the district, the Wimberley ISD Board of Trustees adopted a resolution affirming students’ ability to choose to pray in school at its Feb. 9 meeting.
SB 11 — adopted during the 89th Texas Legislature — amends Section 25.901 of the Texas Education Code, “Exercise of Constitutional Right to Pray” by allowing prayer or meditation to be encouraged during school. Requiring or coercing someone to pray or meditate is still prohibited under law.
All boards statewide were presented with the option to require “every campus of the district or school to provide students and employees with an opportunity to participate in a period of prayer and reading of the Bible or other religious text on each school day,” read the amendment.
The bill took effect Sept. 1, 2025, allowing districts to opt in for the 2025-26 school year. No district is required to adopt the bill. However, every school district was mandated by the state to take decisive action on the bill by March 1 of this year.
With the deadline approaching, the board of trustees heard a presentation from Jason Valentine, the district’s assistant superintendent, on the bill’s requirements and potential challenges.
To participate in the Daily Prayer Period, each parent and employee would have to sign a consent form for their child or themself. The bill also states that only consenting students and employees are allowed to hear the prayer and bars the prayer period from being held during instructional time. The time for prayer or Bible reading would have to take place in a designated space with supervision.
According to Valentine’s presentation, adopting the bill in Wimberley ISD could generate peer pressure from consenting students for nonconsenting students to participate or foster religious division. The assistant superintendent also touched on “daily administrative challenges to track consent, dedicated time/space and supervision to ensure legal compliance.”
Valentine emphasized that not adopting the senate bill does not erase the existing right to pray in school if one chooses, which the Constitution also protects. “We have found that some school districts offered an alternative resolution acknowledging what rights already exist in schools,” he said.
In a letter signed by more 160 faith leaders across Texas, the authors urged school boards not to adopt SB 11: “Requiring families to opt into a system that already protects their children's religious rights at school distracts from a school's mission of educating children,” the letter stated. The faith leaders provided an alternative resolution, which Wimberley ISD drew from in its own resolution Affirming our Constitutional and Legal Right to Choose to Pray in School.”
Before moving to a vote, trustee Lexi Jones stated, “I appreciate that we already have these constitutional protections in place.” She added that adopting SB 11 was an unnecessary measure.
“We have a time of reflection on our campuses. It’s already in place,” stated Rob Campbell, board president.
He reiterated member Jones’ sentiment and stated that the process of implementing a daily prayer period would be burdensome.
A record vote was taken to decline the adoption of SB 11 and move forward with the resolution. In the event of a record vote, each trustee must individually vote yes or no on an agenda item. The trustees voted “yes” 6-0 to approve the resolution.
In the alternative resolution, the board affirmed its dedication “to cultivating and maintaining a respectful school environment for students and teachers of any or no religious background; and supports the rights of individuals to pray in its schools.”
The board of trustees will hold its next regular meeting Monday, March 23.
