BOISE — A bill requiring all Idaho public schools to hold a daily moment of silence passed the Senate and is headed to the governor's desk.
House Bill 623, sponsored by Rep. Bruce Skaug, would apply to teachers and/or "employees in charge of a classroom" across all grades in all Idaho public schools. School personnel would instruct students individually to "reflect, meditate, pray or engage in another silent activity" at the beginning of the school day.
The legislation had previously passed the House on Feb. 24 in a 51-17-2 vote.
RELATED | Idaho House committee advances bill requiring daily moment of silence in schools
No other activities would be allowed to take place during the moment of silence.
Under the legislation, teachers or classroom leaders would not be able to provide specific instruction on how students use the moment of silence. Instead, schools must notify parents and guardians about the practice and encourage them to guide their students if they wish.
Republican Senator Tammy Nichols spoke in favor of the bill after it was read for the third time on the Senate floor. Sen. Nichols argued that the 60-second moment of silence would help students recenter before the beginning of the school day.
"The government is not directing that moment, the student is," Sen. Nichols said.
Sen. Nichols said other states have already implemented similar legislation and that Idaho is just "catching up".
However, not all lawmakers supported the bill.
Democrat Senator Janie Ward-Engelking spoke out against HB 623, saying that the bill was unrealistic for many teachers to implement at the beginning of every school day, especially for lower grades.
"This is one more thing we are going to ask teachers to do," Sen. Ward-Engelking.
Republican Senator Mark Harris also argued against the bill. Sen. Harris said that his wife, who works as a second-grade teacher, tried the 60-second moment of silence in her classroom.
"It was the longest 60-seconds of their young lives," Sen. Harris said. "They went absolutely bonkers."
However, despite the opposition, the bill passed the Senate on March 16 in 18-15-2 vote.
If signed by the governor, HB 623 will take effect on July 1.
