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WFISD trustees decline resolution to establish scheduled opt‑in prayer and scripture reading
Summary
After an extended discussion about logistics, supervision and legal limits, the Wichita Falls ISD Board voted 7–0 to decline adopting the optional Senate Bill 11 resolution that would establish district‑wide scheduled opt‑in prayer and scripture reading periods.
The Wichita Falls Independent School District Board of Trustees voted unanimously to decline a proposed resolution tied to Senate Bill 11 that would have directed each campus to establish scheduled, opt‑in periods for prayer and scripture reading.
Administration presented the board with two options: adopt an optional resolution requiring campuses to provide scheduled opt‑in times with consent-tracking and separate locations so non-participants are not within earshot, or decline and continue current practices (daily moment of silence, student‑led religious organizations and after‑school faith-based clubs). As the presenter noted, adoption would require policies to track parental consent and supervision so opt‑out students were kept out of hearing distance.
Trustees debated legal and logistical concerns at length: how to supervise opt‑in and opt‑out students, whether staff could be perceived as leading religious activities, the requirement to track and honor revocations of consent, and the possibility of community backlash. One trustee asked, “What would happen if that prayer session was led by a Muslim?” and the board discussed the requirement to treat student‑led activities consistently if the resolution were adopted.
After an initial motion to adopt was retracted, the board considered a motion to decline the resolution. The motion to decline carried by a recorded show of hands and voice vote, 7–0. Trustees discussed communicating the district’s existing practices and options (student‑led clubs, moment of silence and permitted individual prayer) to the public regardless of the vote.
Board members directed staff to return with any policy language only if the board later decided to revisit the matter; for now the district will continue with its current practices and said it would emphasize community messaging about permitted student religious activities.
