Trustees support Legislature’s initiative
Students and staff in the Boerne Independent School District are getting a designated period of prayer and religious reading following a decision by trustees Monday.
School board members voted 6-1 to support a resolution approved by the Legislature in 2025 outlining steps that allow prayer on campus grounds.
Senate Bill 11, which authorizes a “daily period of prayer” so long as it does not disrupt academic classes, requires school districts to provide “a strict physical and auditory separation from non-participating students” at each campus in the district.
“Our job tonight is to approve or deny a policy,” said board President Kristi Schmidt. “In that policy we have room to shape that policy ... and we have the authority to cancel that policy if we see fit.”
Officials said Boerne ISD already offers numerous opportunities for students to participate in clubs and events that involve faith or religious observation.
John O’Hare, BISD chief administrative officer, noted those activities include daily moments of silence and reflection over the intercom each day; student- led prayers at events; student-organized religious clubs including Fellowship of Christian Athletes, First Priority Club, Jesus Club and Charging Toward Christ; and voluntary participation in national events.
“We have so many things that we’re doing already, I don’t see this being a big change to how we do business, but it could be,” trustee Garrett Wilson said. “It’s good for people to be able to exercise their freedom of religion, and for us ... to remove barriers to exercising religious freedom.”
Board member Courtney Darter-Bruce said the initiative has “value.”
“I believe SB 11 would create space and opportunity before or after school, with permission from parents,” Darter-Bruce said. “We are so blessed in our community to have individuals who really champion our kids. This simply creates the framework and opportunity to where they can (pray), on campus.”
Trustee Dallas Pipes asked if construction or rearranging classroom priorities are needed to address the bill’s requirements for the prayer area to be out of the line of sight and separated from the rest of the school and “non-participating students.”
Pipes also asked if SB 11, which speaks to activity before school and not during the academic day, might come with an additional cost to the district if staff has to arrive earlier.
“The rights of students to pray and read Scripture during the day is already well established,” O’Hare told trustees when introducing the topic.
The First Amendment, he said, protects private, voluntary religious expression while prohibiting school-sponsored or coerced religious activity.
“The Supreme Court has upheld these rights, as long as prayer is student-initiated and not disruptive,” O’Hare added.
“I don’t see this being a big change to how we do business, but it could be.”
— Garrett Wilson, Boerne ISD trustee
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