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Leakey ISD board unanimously declines to adopt SB 11 prayer and Bible-reading resolution
Summary
After an extended staff-led review of operational and liability concerns under Texas Education Code §25.0823(a-1), the Leakey ISD Board voted 5-0 to reject adopting the daily designated period for prayer and Bible reading authorized by Senate Bill 11.
The Leakey Independent School District Board of Trustees unanimously voted Feb. 23 to decline adopting a resolution under Senate Bill 11 (89th Texas Legislature) that would create a designated period for prayer and Bible reading for students and employees.
Superintendent Christopher Yeschke presented the statute’s operational requirements and recommended the Board vote no, citing logistical and legal challenges for a small rural district. Yeschke outlined requirements that “the designated period may not be substituted for instructional time,” that participation requires signed consent forms from students and staff, and that non-consenting individuals must be physically separated so they cannot hear the activity. He told the Board the statute characterizes unauthorized audible prayer as constituting “injury” to a non-consenting person and noted the Attorney General’s office can provide guidance.
Yeschke described practical problems for Leakey ISD, including how to physically separate consenting and non-consenting students and staff during the school day and how that separation could affect instructional time and liability exposure. He said, to his knowledge, only one district in the region had adopted a resolution and that the time slot chosen there (7:30 a.m.) limited participation. The Superintendent recommended the Board “not to adopt the resolution,” and the Board followed his recommendation.
Board President Tim McLaughlin moved to accept the Superintendent’s recommendation; Scott Chisum seconded the motion. The vote was recorded as Tim McLaughlin Aye; Scott Chisum Aye; Brenda Gonzalez Aye; Tammie Dugat Aye; Donnie Dutton Aye. The motion carried 5-0.
The Board’s action was limited to the SB 11 resolution; Yeschke and trustees clarified that existing protections for individual student religious expression under current policy would remain in place.
