It’s not legislature’s job to require moment of silence in schools
Frankfort State Journal. January 30, 2024
There are countless issues that Rep. Daniel Fister, R-Versailles, could be advocating for this legislative session (during an election year, mind you), but the 56th District representative is putting his time and energy into a measure that would require a moment of silence at the start of each day in Kentucky public schools.
Fister is the lead sponsor of House Bill 96, which would mandate a moment of silence — lasting one to two minutes when all students will remain seated and silent — at the beginning of the first class each school day.
According to the bill, students would choose how to spend that time and school staff would be prohibited from interrupting them during their silent reflection. The policy would be explained to parents, who would be encouraged to offer guidance to their children on how to spend the moment of silence, which Fister said could be “the opportunity to pray if they choose, or they can reflect on themselves and prepare for the day ahead of them.”
HB 96 advanced to the full House after clearing the GOP-led House Education Committee, but not every committee member was in agreement. Rep. Tina Bojanowski, D-Louisville, was one of three opposing the measure and interpreted the legislation as requiring prayer during the school day.
“(Students) have a right to pray at any time during the day. But what this bill creates is a time specifically, I believe, intended to be for prayer, which is a little edgy because we have what’s called the ‘establishment clause,'” she explained.
A U.S. Supreme Court ruling decades ago banned public schools from leading students in classroom prayer citing that it violated a First Amendment clause forbidding the establishment of a government religion.
While we believe offering children a time for reflection to “better understand themselves and their beliefs,” as Fister put it, is probably a good idea, we don’t think it is the legislature’s job to require a moment of silence be observed as part of students’ school day. Parents can always enforce intentional time for reflection at home.
