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Senate halts consideration of bill to codify students’ religious rights in schools; sponsor to clarify distribution method
Summary
Senate bill (SB 223) to place a statement of students’ and employees’ religious rights into statute — including an elective academic study of the Bible provision — was presented and extensively discussed; the sponsor agreed to withdraw the measure temporarily to clarify whether notice to parents must be paper or may be electronic.
Senator Mark Johnson presented a bill to codify a summary of students’ and school employees’ religious rights and to require school districts to provide a copy of the act to enrolled students and employees at the start of each school year. The bill cites Arkansas Code § 6-16-1-45 (elective academic study of the Bible) in its text.
Attorney Stephanie Nichols of Family Council testified in support, saying the bill simply summarizes existing constitutional rights and Supreme Court precedent and that reasonable time, place and manner restrictions still apply. Nichols said the bill is intended to inform students and employees to prevent misunderstandings by school staff about religious rights.
Committee members raised questions about the bill’s scope, whether other religious texts (for example, the Quran) are covered, whether listing the Bible creates a special status, and how districts would deliver the notice to families. Senator Johnson and witnesses said existing law authorizes an academic study of the Bible and that the bill is a recodification and a notification mechanism rather than new substantive law.
Several senators objected to the requirement to provide a paper copy to each enrolled student each year; they proposed clarifying the bill to permit electronic distribution or posting on district websites. After discussion the sponsor agreed to pull the bill so the house sponsor can offer clarifying language and return with an amendment; the committee did not vote on final passage at this hearing.
Ending: SB 223 was pulled from consideration to allow the sponsor to amend the bill to clarify distribution method and other language; no committee vote on passage occurred.
