GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 1995

S	1 

SENATE BILL 140

Short Title:  Moment of Silence.	(Public)

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Sponsors: Senators Carpenter, Albertson; Kerr, Little, Clark, Ledbetter, Parnell, Perdue, Foxx, Davis, Smith, Hoyle, McDaniel, East, Ballantine, Allran, Warren, Cochrane, Martin of Pitt, Hartsell, Lucas, Dannelly, Speed, Edwards, Blackmon, Jordan, and Forrester.

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Referred to:  Education/Higher Education.

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February 6, 1995

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO REQUIRE THE OBSERVANCE OF A MOMENT OF SILENCE IN ALL SCHOOL UNITS AND TO ENSURE FREEDOM OF RELIGION IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1.  G.S. 115C-47(29) reads as rewritten:
     	" (29)	To Require the Observance of a Moment of Silence in All School Units. –Every local board of education shall adopt a policy to require the observance of a moment of silence at the commencement of the first class of each day in all grades in the public schools. Such a policy shall provide that the teacher in charge of the room in which each class is held shall  announce that a period of silence not to exceed one minute in duration shall be observed and that during that period silence shall be maintained and no one may engage in any other activities. Such period of silence shall be totally and completely unstructured and free of guidance or influence of any kind from any sources."
Sec. 2.  G.S. 115C-47 is amended by adding a new subdivision to read:
    	" (29a)	To Ensure Freedom of Religion. – No local board of education shall have a policy of denying, or that effectively prevents participation in, prayer in public schools by individuals on a voluntary basis. No local board of education shall require any person to participate in prayer or influence the form or content of any prayer in public schools. This subdivision shall not be construed to direct any local board of education to take any action in violation of the Constitutions of North Carolina or the United States."
Sec. 3.  This act becomes effective July 1, 1995, and applies to all school years beginning with the 1995-96 school year.