I Believe Act; enact to require school boards to adopt policies on daily, voluntary student prayer and Bible reading.

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To: Education
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2026

By: Senator(s) McLendon

SENATE BILL NO. 2298

AN ACT TO ENACT THE "I BELIEVE ACT"; TO REQUIRE THE SCHOOL 1
BOARD OF EACH SCHOOL DISTRICT TO ADOPT A POLICY REGARDING DAILY, 2
VOLUNTARY PARTICIPATION IN PRAYER AND BIBLE READING BY STUDENTS; 3
TO BRING FORWARD SECTION 37-12-9, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, FOR 4
THE PURPOSE OF POSSIBLE AMENDMENT; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES. 5
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI: 6
SECTION 1. (1) This section shall be known and may be cited 7
as the "I Believe Act." 8
(2) The school board of each school district shall adopt a 9
policy regarding daily, voluntary participation in prayer and 10
Bible reading by students. 11
SECTION 2. Section 37-12-9, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 12
brought forward as follows: 13
37-12-9. (1) To ensure that the school district does not 14
discriminate against a student's publicly stated voluntary 15
expression of a religious viewpoint, if any, and to eliminate any 16
actual or perceived affirmative school sponsorship or attribution 17
to the district of a student's expression of a religious 18
viewpoint, if any, a school district shall adopt a policy, which 19
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must include the establishment of a limited public forum for 20
student speakers at all school events at which a student is to 21
publicly speak. The policy regarding the limited public forum 22
must also require the school district to: 23
(a) Provide the forum in a manner that does not 24
discriminate against a student's voluntary expression of a 25
religious viewpoint, if any, on an otherwise permissible subject; 26
(b) Provide a method, based on neutral criteria, for 27
the selection of student speakers at school events and graduation 28
ceremonies; 29
(c) Ensure that a student speaker does not engage in 30
obscene, vulgar, offensively lewd or indecent speech; and 31
(d) State, in writing, orally, or both, that the 32
student's speech does not reflect the endorsement, sponsorship, 33
position or expression of the district. 34
(2) The school district disclaimer required by subsection 35
(1)(d) of this section must be provided at all graduation 36
ceremonies. The school district must also continue to provide the 37
disclaimer at any other event in which a student speaks publicly 38
for as long as a need exists to dispel confusion over the 39
district's nonsponsorship of the student's speech. 40
(3) Student expression on an otherwise permissible subject 41
may not be excluded from the limited public forum because the 42
subject is expressed from a religious viewpoint. 43
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(4) All school districts shall adopt and implement a local 44
policy regarding a limited public forum and voluntary student 45
expression of religious viewpoints. If a school district 46
voluntarily adopts and follows the model policy governing 47
voluntary religious expression in public schools as provided by 48
subsection (5) of this section, the district is in compliance with 49
the provisions of this chapter covered by the model policy. 50
(5) Model policy governing voluntary religious expression in 51
public schools. In this section, "model policy" means a local 52
policy adopted by the school district that is substantially 53
similar to the following: 54
ARTICLE I 55
STUDENT EXPRESSION OF RELIGIOUS VIEWPOINTS 56
The school district shall treat a student's voluntary 57
expression of a religious viewpoint, if any, on an otherwise 58
permissible subject in the same manner the district treats a 59
student's voluntary expression of a secular or other viewpoint on 60
an otherwise permissible subject and may not discriminate against 61
the student based on a religious viewpoint expressed by the 62
student on an otherwise permissible subject. 63
ARTICLE II 64
STUDENT SPEAKERS AT NONGRADUATION EVENTS 65
The school district hereby creates a limited public forum for 66
student speakers at all school events at which a student is to 67
publicly speak. For each speaker, the district shall set a 68
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maximum time limit reasonable and appropriate to the occasion. 69
Student speakers shall introduce: 70
(a) Football games; 71
(b) Any other athletic events designated by the 72
district; 73
(c) Opening announcements and greetings for the school 74
day; and 75
(d) Any additional events designated by the district, 76
which may include, without limitation, assemblies and pep rallies. 77
The forum shall be limited in the manner provided by this 78
article. 79
Only those students in the highest two (2) grade levels of 80
the school and who hold one (1) of the following positions of 81
honor based on neutral criteria are eligible to use the limited 82
public forum: student council officers, class officers of the 83
highest grade level in the school, captains of the football team, 84
and other students holding positions of honor as the school 85
district may designate. 86
An eligible student shall be notified of the student's 87
eligibility, and a student who wishes to participate as an 88
introducing speaker shall submit the student's name to the student 89
council or other designated body during an announced period of not 90
less than three (3) days. The announced period may be at the 91
beginning of the school year, at the end of the preceding school 92
year so student speakers are in place for the new year, or, if the 93
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selection process will be repeated each semester, at the beginning 94
of each semester or at the end of the preceding semester so 95
speakers are in place for the next semester. The names of the 96
volunteering student speakers shall be randomly drawn until all 97
names have been selected, and the names shall be listed in the 98
order drawn. Each selected student will be matched 99
chronologically to the event for which the student will be giving 100
the introduction. Each student may speak for one (1) week at a 101
time for all introductions of events that week, or rotate after 102
each speaking event, or otherwise as determined by the district. 103
The list of student speakers shall be chronologically repeated as 104
needed, in the same order. The district may repeat the selection 105
process each semester rather than once a year. 106
The subject of the student introductions must be related to 107
the purpose of the event and to the purpose of marking the opening 108
of the event, honoring the occasion, the participants, and those 109
in attendance, bringing the audience to order, and focusing the 110
audience on the purpose of the event. The subject must be 111
designated, a student must stay on the subject, and the student 112
may not engage in obscene, vulgar, offensively lewd or indecent 113
speech. The school district shall treat a student's voluntary 114
expression of a religious viewpoint, if any, on an otherwise 115
permissible subject in the same manner the district treats a 116
student's voluntary expression of a secular or other viewpoint on 117
an otherwise permissible subject and may not discriminate against 118
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the student based on a religious viewpoint expressed by the 119
student on an otherwise permissible subject. 120
For as long as there is a need to dispel confusion over the 121
nonsponsorship of the student's speech at each event in which a 122
student will deliver an introduction, a disclaimer shall be stated 123
in written or oral form, or both, such as, "The student giving the 124
introduction for this event is a volunteering student selected on 125
neutral criteria to introduce the event. The content of the 126
introduction is the private expression of the student and does not 127
reflect the endorsement, sponsorship, position or expression of 128
the school district." 129
Certain students who have attained special positions of honor 130
in the school have traditionally addressed school audiences from 131
time to time as a tangential component of their achieved positions 132
of honor, such as the captains of various sports teams, student 133
council officers, class officers, homecoming kings and queens, 134
prom kings and queens, and the like, and have attained their 135
positions based on neutral criteria. Nothing in this policy 136
eliminates the continuation of the practice of having these 137
students, irrespective of grade level, address school audiences in 138
the normal course of their respective positions. The school 139
district shall create a limited public forum for the speakers and 140
shall treat a student's voluntary expression of a religious 141
viewpoint, if any, on an otherwise permissible subject in the same 142
manner the district treats a student's voluntary expression of a 143
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secular or other viewpoint on an otherwise permissible subject and 144
may not discriminate against the student based on a religious 145
viewpoint expressed by the student on an otherwise permissible 146
subject. 147
ARTICLE III 148
STUDENT SPEAKERS AT GRADUATION CEREMONIES 149
The school district hereby creates a limited public forum 150
consisting of an opportunity for a student to speak to begin 151
graduation ceremonies and another student to speak to end 152
graduation ceremonies. For each speaker, the district shall set a 153
maximum time limit reasonable and appropriate to the occasion. 154
The forum shall be limited in the manner provided by this 155
article. 156
Only students who are graduating and who hold one (1) of the 157
following neutral criteria positions of honor shall be eligible to 158
use the limited public forum: student council officers, class 159
officers of the graduating class, the top three (3) academically 160
ranked graduates, or a shorter or longer list of student leaders 161
as the school district may designate. A student who will 162
otherwise have a speaking role in the graduation ceremonies is 163
ineligible to give the opening and closing remarks. The names of 164
the eligible volunteering students will be randomly drawn. The 165
first name drawn will give the opening and the second name drawn 166
will give the closing. 167
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The topic of the opening and closing remarks must be related 168
to the purpose of the graduation ceremony and to the purpose of 169
marking the opening and closing of the event, honoring the 170
occasion, the participants, and those in attendance, bringing the 171
audience to order, and focusing the audience on the purpose of the 172
event. 173
In addition to the students giving the opening and closing 174
remarks, certain other students who have attained special 175
positions of honor based on neutral criteria, including, without 176
limitation, the valedictorian, will have speaking roles at 177
graduation ceremonies. For each speaker, the school district 178
shall set a maximum time limit reasonable and appropriate to the 179
occasion and to the position held by the speaker. For this 180
purpose, the district creates a limited public forum for these 181
students to deliver the addresses. The subject of the addresses 182
must be related to the purpose of the graduation ceremony, marking 183
and honoring the occasion, honoring the participants and those in 184
attendance, and the student's perspective on purpose, achievement, 185
life, school, graduation, and looking forward to the future. 186
The subject must be designated for each student speaker, the 187
student must stay on the subject, and the student may not engage 188
in obscene, vulgar, offensively lewd or indecent speech. The 189
school district shall treat a student's voluntary expression of a 190
religious viewpoint, if any, on an otherwise permissible subject 191
in the same manner the district treats a student's voluntary 192
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expression of a secular or other viewpoint on an otherwise 193
permissible subject and may not discriminate against the student 194
based on a religious viewpoint expressed by the student on an 195
otherwise permissible subject. 196
A written disclaimer shall be printed in the graduation 197
program that states, "The students who will be speaking at the 198
graduation ceremony were selected based on neutral criteria to 199
deliver messages of the students' own choices. The content of 200
each student speaker's message is the private expression of the 201
individual student and does not reflect any position or expression 202
of the school district or the board of trustees, or the district's 203
administration, or employees of the district, or the views of any 204
other graduate. The contents of these messages were prepared by 205
the student volunteers, and the district refrained from any 206
interaction with student speakers regarding the student speakers' 207
viewpoints on permissible subjects." 208
ARTICLE IV 209
RELIGIOUS EXPRESSION IN CLASS ASSIGNMENTS 210
Students may express the students' beliefs about religion in 211
homework, artwork, and other written and oral assignments free 212
from discrimination based on the religious content of the 213
students' submission. Homework and classroom work shall be judged 214
by ordinary academic standards of substance and relevance and 215
against other legitimate pedagogical concerns identified by the 216
school. Students may not be penalized or rewarded on account of 217
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religious content. If a teacher's assignment involves writing a 218
poem, the work of a student who submits a poem in the form of a 219
prayer (for example, a psalm) should be judged on the basis of 220
academic standards, including literary quality, and not penalized 221
or rewarded on account of its religious content. 222
ARTICLE V 223
FREEDOM TO ORGANIZE RELIGIOUS GROUPS AND ACTIVITIES 224
Students may organize prayer groups, religious clubs, "see 225
you at the pole" gatherings, and other religious gatherings 226
before, during and after school to the same extent that students 227
are permitted to organize other noncurricular student activities 228
and groups. Religious groups must be given the same access to 229
school facilities for assembling as is given to other 230
noncurricular groups, without discrimination based on the 231
religious content of the group's expression. If student groups 232
that meet for nonreligious activities are permitted to advertise 233
or announce the groups' meetings, for example, by advertising in a 234
student newspaper, putting up posters, making announcements on a 235
student activities bulletin board or public address system, or 236
handing out leaflets, school authorities may not discriminate 237
against groups that meet for prayer or other religious speech. 238
School authorities may disclaim sponsorship of noncurricular 239
groups and events, provided they administer the disclaimer in a 240
manner that does not favor or disfavor groups that meet to engage 241
in prayer or other religious speech. 242
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ST: I Believe Act; enact to require school
boards to adopt policies on daily, voluntary
student prayer and Bible reading.
SECTION 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from 243
and after July 1, 2026. 244