Stricken language would be deleted from and underlined language would be added to present law.
*TNL141* 02/12/2025 4:53:39 PM TNL141
State of Arkansas 1
95th General Assembly A Bill 2
Regular Session, 2025 SENATE BILL 223 3
4
By: Senator M. Johnson 5
By: Representative A. Brown 6
7
For An Act To Be Entitled 8
AN ACT TO CREATE THE RELIGIOUS RIGHTS AT PUBLIC 9
SCHOOLS ACT OF 2025; AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES. 10
11
12
Subtitle 13
TO CREATE THE RELIGIOUS RIGHTS AT PUBLIC 14
SCHOOLS ACT OF 2025. 15
16
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS: 17
18
SECTION 1. DO NOT CODIFY. Legislative findings and intent. 19
(a) The General Assembly finds that: 20
(1) Religious freedom is a cornerstone of our democracy and is 21
essential to the dignity and freedom of every individual; 22
(2) Arkansas Constitution Article 14, § 1, provides that 23
"Intelligence and virtue being the safeguards of liberty and the bulwark of a 24
free and good government, the State shall ever maintain a general, suitable 25
and efficient system of free public schools and shall adopt all suitable 26
means to secure to the people the advantages and opportunities of 27
education."; 28
(3) An important advantage and essential opportunity of a system 29
of free public schools is for students to develop a virtuous lifestyle guided 30
by deeply held, meaningful values; 31
(4) Religious worldviews hold an important place in overall 32
human thought and philosophy; 33
(5) Religious freedom provides an environment and opportunity 34
for students to be exposed to worldviews that form the basis for civilization 35
and thought; 36 SB223
2 02/12/2025 4:53:39 PM TNL141
(6) Religious freedom at public schools is a right that is 1
protected by state and federal law; and 2
(7) The United States Supreme Court has held in "Tinker v. Des 3
Moines", that neither students nor teachers “shed their constitutional rights 4
to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate". 5
(b) It is the intent of the General Assembly to: 6
(1) Inform Arkansas residents regarding religious protections 7
and liberties; 8
(2) Ensure that this act serves only as a guide to clarify 9
religious rights at public schools, rather than as an exhaustive list of 10
religious rights at public schools; and 11
(3) Affirm that students and public school employees retain many 12
unlisted rights by virtue of their God -given freedoms, which extend beyond 13
those rights explicitly enumerated in this act. 14
15
SECTION 2. Arkansas Code Title 6, Chapter 10, Subchapter 1, is amended 16
to add an additional section to read as follows: 17
6-10-140. Religious Rights at Public Schools Act of 2025. 18
(a) This section shall be known and may be cited as the "Religious 19
Rights at Public Schools Act of 2025". 20
(b) At the beginning of each school year, each public school district 21
and open-enrollment public charter school shall provide each enrolled student 22
and individual employed by the public school district or open -enrollment 23
public charter school with a copy of this act. 24
(c) Under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and 25
United States Supreme Court case law interpreting the First Amendment to the 26
United States Constitution, a student enrolled in a public school district or 27
an open-enrollment public charter school shall retain broad religious 28
freedom, which includes without limitation the right to: 29
(1) Pray silently or aloud, individually or in groups, at any 30
time when the student is permitted to speak freely and engage in discussions 31
of the student's own choosing; 32
(2) Pray by assembling on the property of the student's public 33
school district or open -enrollment public charter school in the same manner 34
that students are allowed to speak and assemble on the property of the 35
student's public school district or open -enrollment public charter school for 36 SB223
3 02/12/2025 4:53:39 PM TNL141
other activities; 1
(3) Promote religious activities on the property of the 2
student's public school district or open -enrollment public charter school in 3
the same manner that other activities are promoted; 4
(4) Display, print, recite, or discuss religious figures, 5
religious texts, and religious beliefs in the student's public school 6
district or open-enrollment public charter school assignments in which there 7
is student discretion in choosing topics or people of interest; 8
(5) Give a Bible or other religious text to any other person at 9
the student's public school district or open -enrollment public charter school 10
in the same manner that the student is allowed to give away other books or 11
texts; 12
(6) Individually or in groups conduct religious observances such 13
as speaking, singing, reading, or praying at times when students are free to 14
voluntarily converse and interact; 15
(7) Form and participate in religious clubs, groups, or 16
associations in the same manner that students form and participate in other 17
clubs, groups, or associations; 18
(8) Invite and host members of the clergy or other religious 19
leaders to the student's public school district or open -enrollment public 20
charter school in the same manner that other persons who are not enrolled in 21
the public school district or open -enrollment public charter school are 22
allowed to be present; 23
(9) Express a religious viewpoint in the same manner as other 24
viewpoints may be expressed in the student's public school district or open -25
enrollment public charter school academic assignments, activities, speech, or 26
other expressions; 27
(10) Pray silently during any moment of silence observed during 28
the school day or at the student's public school district or open -enrollment 29
public charter school activities; 30
(11) Display and discuss the motto of the United States at the 31
student's public school district or open -enrollment public charter school; 32
(12) Read, discuss, and post documents of historical 33
significance that are of a religious nature or contain religious quotes or 34
references; 35
(13) Have a Bible or other religious text at the student's 36 SB223
4 02/12/2025 4:53:39 PM TNL141
public school district or open -enrollment public charter school in the same 1
manner that the student is allowed to have other books or texts at the 2
student's public school district or open -enrollment public charter school; 3
and 4
(14) Read a Bible or other religious text at the student's 5
public school district or open -enrollment public charter school in the same 6
manner that the student is allowed to read other books or texts at the 7
student's public school district or open -enrollment public charter school. 8
(d) Under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and 9
United States Supreme Court case law interpreting the First Amendment to the 10
United States Constitution, an individual employed by a public school 11
district or an open-enrollment public charter school shall retain broad 12
religious freedom, which includes without limitation the right to: 13
(1) Pray silently during any moment of silence observed during 14
the school day or at the individual's public school district or open -15
enrollment public charter school activities; 16
(2) Display and discuss the motto of the United States at the 17
individual's public school district or open -enrollment public charter school; 18
(3) Read, discuss, and post documents of historical significance 19
that are of a religious nature or contain religious quotes or references; 20
(4) Have a Bible or other religious text at the individual's 21
public school district or open -enrollment public charter school in the same 22
manner that the individual is allowed to have other books or texts at the 23
individual's public school district or open -enrollment public charter school; 24
and 25
(5) Read a Bible or other religious text at the individual's 26
public school district or open -enrollment public charter school in the same 27
manner that the individual is allowed to read other books or texts at the 28
individual's public school district or open -enrollment public charter school. 29
(e) A public school district and an open -enrollment public charter 30
school may: 31
(1) Have Bibles and other religious texts in public school 32
libraries, classrooms, and other places where books or texts are available to 33
public school district or open -enrollment public charter school students or 34
individuals employed by the public school district or open -enrollment public 35
charter school; and 36 SB223
5 02/12/2025 4:53:39 PM TNL141
(2) Offer an academic study of the Bible course as provided by § 1
6-16-145. 2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36