Authors: John Janssen and Gray Wood

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During the 2025 legislative session, the Texas Legislature passed Senate Bill 11 (“SB11”), which authorizes school districts and open-enrollment charter schools to create “periods of prayer, readings of the Bible, or other religious texts” for students and employees. This newsletter seeks to help ensure that school boards and administrators are compliant with SB 11’s legal requirements.

• SB 11 contains an entirely optional framework for periods of prayer.
• School boards may choose to adopt periods of prayer or not, and students and employees can only attend periods of prayer if they sign a consent form.
• There is no penalty for not adopting a period of prayer. But there is one part of the bill that is not optional for school boards: making the choice itself.
• Section 3 of SB 11 states that school boards must vote on whether to adopt a period of prayer policy or not by March 1st, 2026. The law does not specify a penalty for failing to vote on the bill, but it is still a legal requirement that all boards must comply with.
• There is no express timeline within which you must adopt and enact the policy if the Board votes on or before March 1, 2026 to proceed in that manner.
• In order to be compliant with SB 11, school boards must hold that vote before March 1st, 2026.

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What You Should Know and Do

First, if a school board decides to adopt a period of prayer policy, they do not have to worry about being sued over it. While it is not yet clear whether prayer periods like the ones in SB 11 are constitutional, the Texas Legislature recognized this uncertainty and created certain provisions to protect school districts from being sued. SB 11 contains provisions that all suits brought against a school district for adopting a period of prayer policy will be taken over and paid for by the Attorney General. Accordingly, adopting period of prayer policy as outlined in SB 11 carries no liability for school districts.

However, the foremost consideration for a school board should be the support or opposition of the district community they serve. Before deciding on whether to adopt or reject a period of prayer policy, a school board should consider using part of their regular meetings to solicit public testimony on whether community members in their district support or oppose a period of prayer policy. Boards might also consider whether the policy could make students and employees who do not attend the period feel excluded or marginalized. After gauging the opinion of their district and deliberating on whether the

policy is prudent, the school board should then begin the required vote on adopting a period of prayer policy.

If a board decides not to adopt a period of prayer policy, it could include in its resolution its rationale, although it is not legally required to do so. If helpful, the resolution could include an outline of the board’s policies on protecting students’ right to pray, freedom of expression of religious viewpoints, and prohibition of discrimination against religion (typically board policies FNA and FFH).

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Adopting a Period of Prayer Policy

Comply with the bill’s requirement for resolutions

SB11 contains specific requirements for the required resolution regarding the period of prayer policy. If a board chooses to adopt the policy, it must include a statement that the period of prayer policy is being implemented as provided by Section 25.0823 of the Texas Education Code.

Adopt a compliant period of prayer policy

SB 11 lays out a few key provisions that must feature in the policy a board adopts.

1. First, the board’s policy must prohibit students and employees from attending a period of prayer if they have not signed a consent form. In turn, the consent form must contain:
   a. An acknowledgement that it was the student or employee’s choice to participate in the period of prayer.
   b. A statement that the student or employee has no objection to participation in the period of prayer.
   c. A waiver of the student or employee’s right to bring a claim under state or federal law over the period of prayer.
2. Second, the policy must prohibit a prayer or religious text-reading from occurring over a public address system (the school’s intercom)
3. Third, the policy must specify that the period of prayer cannot be a substitute for instructional time.
4. Fourth, the policy must include provisions that ensure nobody who has not consented to the period of prayer is put in the physical presence of the period of prayer, within hearing of the period of prayer, or is in any other way affected by the period of prayer.
   a. In order to do so, SB 11 requires that the period of prayer occurs:
   i. Before normal school hours, and/or
   ii. Only in classrooms or areas where every student or employee has signed a consent form.

It is important that school district follow these requirements in order to reserve its right to representation by the Attorney General. If the board adopts a policy without the above requirements, then the policy is not in compliance with SB 11, and the attorney general’s protection provisions will not apply.

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Administrative Considerations

If a board decides to adopt a period of prayer policy, it should also consider the administrative work that will accompany implementing the policy. Because SB 11 requires consent forms for periods of prayer, it will have to track, document, and store these consent forms for every student and employee who participates. SB 11 notes that consent can be revoked at any time by notifying a school-designated administrator, which prohibits the student or employee from attending periods of prayer again.

Other than the above requirements for the period of prayer policy, SB 11 allows flexibility for districts implementing a prayer policy. SB 11 states that school boards may rely on the advice of legal counsel and the attorney general in implementing the policy. The attorney general is required by SB 11 to create a model consent form, but it has not done so as of February 6, 2026. Accordingly, school districts should consult their legal counsel for drafting a consent form. However, creating a consent form is not time-sensitive. The only deadline imposed by SB 11 is for taking a vote on the period of prayer policy, not for implementing the policy itself.

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Conclusion & Takeaways

• All districts must vote on whether to adopt a period of prayer policy by March 1, 2026.
• Districts who choose to adopt a period of prayer policy must comply with several requirements in SB 11 regarding the content of their resolution and the content of their policy, including providing consent forms, allowing only consenting students and employees to attend the prayer period, and not holding prayer periods and instructional periods at the same time.

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For assistance with the required resolution or for assistance with other questions relating to compliance with SB 11, please feel free to contact Leon, Alcala, Morse & Reynolds, PLLC for additional guidance.