Bryan & College Station ISD school boards will continue current policies and practices on religious expression

This podcast contains comments from the February 17, 2026 College Station ISD school board meeting and the February 23, 2026 Bryan ISD school board meeting.Existing religious practices by students and employees in Bryan and College Station ISD's will continue.Over the last two weeks, school board members in Bryan and College Station ISD addressed a requirement from a new state law passed in last year's legislative session, Senate Bill 11, to take a position on a state option of setting a specific time and place to pray and read religious materials.Click HERE to read and download Senate Bill 11 from the 2025 regular session of the Texas legislature.Board members in both districts decided to continue with current local policies and practices on religious expression.College Station ISD school board members spent less than five minutes on the subject at their February 17th regular meeting. Superintendent Tim Harkrider said the state option in Senate Bill 11 was more restrictive.Click HERE to read and download a memo associated with the February 17, 2026 College Station ISD board meeting.Click HERE to read and download presentation materials from the February 17, 2026 College Station ISD board meeting.Bryan ISD school board members and administrators spent 90 minutes on the subject at their February 25th meeting. Nearly one hour was spent behind closed doors with board members, administrators, and lawyers. That was followed by 30 minutes of public discussion. All six BISD board members at the meeting had comments. Five of the six shared their personal religious beliefs.After the Bryan ISD school board unanimously rejected a state option requiring religious expression by students and employees at a specific time and a specific location, the board then unanimously adopted a resolution reaffirming the district's local policies and practices.Click HERE to read and download presentation materials from the February 23, 2026 Bryan ISD board meeting.Click HERE to read and download the resolution that was passed at the February 23, 2026 Bryan ISD school board meeting.