El Paso ISD trustees reject resolution to adopt daily prayer policy tied to Senate Bill 11
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Summary
Trustees voted against taking a record vote to adopt a resolution implementing Senate Bill 11’s required daily period for prayer or reading religious texts; public testimony and trustees’ concerns focused on constitutional limits and implementation logistics.
The El Paso Independent School District Board of Trustees on Feb. 7, 2026 declined to move forward with adopting a districtwide policy to provide a daily period for prayer or the reading of religious texts under Senate Bill 11, after trustees expressed concern about implementation and First Amendment limits.
Norma De La Rosa, president of the El Paso Teachers Association, urged trustees not to adopt a local policy tied to the bill. “Do not approve this resolution and join other public school boards who have already voted to opt out of this,” she told the board during public comment, saying instruction in religion should be left to parents and warning that approving the resolution would be “a step backwards.”
Legal counsel recited the statute’s required language for a policy under Tex. Educ. Code §25.0823, saying a compliant policy must include explicit consent, prohibit public announcements over a PA system, avoid substituting instructional time and may limit the period to times before school or only to locations where everyone present has signed consent. Trustees pressed staff on how such restrictions would work in practice, with one trustee calling the requirement that prayer not occur “in the presence of somebody else who has not signed permission” a logistical challenge.
During discussion trustees said the provision’s consent and isolation requirements would make implementation difficult and risk privileging certain denominations in practice. After debate the board took a record vote on whether to adopt the resolution; the motion failed, with the roll call recorded as four votes against and two in favor (the board announced the final tally as 4–2 and the motion did not pass). The board then moved on to other agenda items.
The vote ended the board’s formal consideration of adopting a districtwide policy under Senate Bill 11 at this meeting; no alternate policy was adopted. The board’s staff and counsel noted statutory constraints and existing protections allowing individual, voluntary, silent prayer.