Governor Kristi Noem is proposing legislation to “put prayer back in South Dakota schools.”
That’s according to her press release about the bill. The actual text of the proposed legislation would require schools to hold a daily “moment of silence."
The bill would direct schools to allow up to one minute every morning for “voluntary prayer, reflection, meditation, or other quiet, respectful activity.”
The bill would prohibit schools from conducting the moment of silence as a religious exercise.
The U.S. Supreme Court has held that public schools cannot organize or require prayers, but students are free to pray on their own.
The state Legislature will consider Noem’s bill. Lawmakers convene for the annual session next month in Pierre.