School prayer bill goes to Governor Holcomb for his signature

On Tuesday, the President of the Senate signed House Bill 1024, joining the House Speaker and the President Pro Tempore.

The measure prevents schools from discriminating against students based on their religious beliefs. 

“As a strong supporter of the First Amendment, I believe in the right to free expression, including religious expression," said Rep. Ed Clere, R-New Albany, who voted in favor of the bill. "There’s no reason students shouldn’t be able to express their religious beliefs in school as long as it’s not disruptive."

Under the law, students will be allowed to take part in religious activities during school hours, including prayer. The bill also allows students to express their religious beliefs in schoolwork, whether it be in writing, art or oral assignments. Clothing, accessories and jewelry displaying religious messages and symbols are protected by the measure.

Another provision allows school corporations to include elective courses on world religions in high school curriculum under the bill.

Though many of these protections already exist in Indiana, Clere said HB 1024 codifies them. 

“I always tend to err on the side of more speech and more expression," Clere said. "We need to be open to appropriate and respectful speech, including religious speech in a school setting. We certainly don’t want any disruption of the educational mission of the school. I think it’s also important not to limit student speech or expression unnecessarily. As we heard this bill, we certainly heard about examples of students' religious expression being restricted just because school officials have a fear. The path of least resistance was to censor. When in doubt, we should err on the side of the First Amendment and uphold the protections afforded to all of us by both the U.S. and State Constitutions."

The bill also calls for the Indiana Department of Education to collaborate with organizations with "expertise in religious civil liberties" to establish a model policy for schools in the state.

“As with all things, I hope there’s a balanced approach to implementing this," Clere said. "I hope it’s an opportunity for some good conversation. I don’t know which organizations with expertise will be invited, but I hope it’s a balanced group representing a diversity of viewpoints and ideas. Hopefully, those organizations can come together and draft model policy that helps schools that may benefit from having guidance on this issue. Maybe this law cause administrators to take another look at their existing policies and practices."

Clere said that the rights of religious expression should be upheld in schools unless it becomes disruptive, but labeling what is disruptive can often be a tricky process. He said he hopes that the development of a model policy can help to identify what constitutes disruptive behavior more effectively.

"These become subjective terms," Clere said. "Just because the shirt a student wears might cause a conversation doesn't mean it's disruptive. There’s no room for disruptive in-your-face expression, but there ought to be room for respectful and appropriate discussion. That’s where the debate on these things ends up. It’s not the 99, it’s the one that is questionable and raises some issue."

Despite bipartisan support for the bill, some have criticized the extension of religious practices into public schools.

On February 22, Jane Henegar, executive director of American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana released a statement on HB 1024.

"The First Amendment and existing federal and state law protect religious speech and mandate certain accommodations for religious exercise in government institutions," Henegar said in the statement. "What the First Amendment does not permit is government endorsement of, or preference for, religious speech and subject matter in public schools. By forcing public schools to introduce religious curricula and open up public for a for religious speech, HB 1024 puts teachers and school administrators at risk of violating the First Amendment. In sum, HB 1024 takes away the autonomy of school districts to avoid policies and practices that make them susceptible to legal challenges under the United States Constitution."