A House bill which prohibits Kentucky school districts from punishing employees for private religious expression was approved by the Kentucky Senate Education committee on March 14.
Under House Bill 547, school district employees are allowed to engage in religious discussion and share religious material with other employees while on duty. Employees can also sponsor religious student groups.
The bill was approved with a vote of 7-1, with one committee member abstaining. It now awaits approval from the Senate.
“This is a piece of legislation that will hopefully embolden these Christian teachers, who are not ashamed of their faith, but sometimes out of fear do not say anything about their faith, or hold prayer groups with other teachers,” State Rep. Chris Fugate, R-Chavies, told the House.
“It will allow my Buddhist friends to have a copy of their prayer books. It will allow my Mormon friends to have their copy of the Book of Mormon,” teacher Donny Wilkerson told LEX18.
HB 547 follows a U.S. Supreme Court ruling from June 2022, which allows for prayer and religious programs in schools. Although the bill is similar to the Supreme Court’s ruling, Fugate said the bill is necessary to protect these terms on a state level. Fugate’s reasoning was a primary sticking point for those who opposed the bill, who felt that the bill is redundant in relation to the First Amendment.
“I guess I just have too much respect for the U.S. Constitution and for the Kentucky Constitution that we’re sworn to uphold to think that we need to shore it up with a state law,” Louisville Democratic Rep. Lisa Willner said.
HB 547 also states that it does not authorize organizations to require participation in religious activities or to otherwise use the bill’s language to violate constitutional rights. However, some groups feel that the bill still has potential to infringe on First Amendment Rights.
“We’re disappointed to hear the House passed HB547, allowing public school teachers to engage in religious expression while on the job,” the American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky said in a tweet. “HB547 ignores a little thing called ‘separation of church and state,’ and will further marginalize students of minority faiths.”