Schools officials give some guidelines

Schools

brating a federal holiday.”

The American Civil Liberties Union of Texas took no position on Bohac’s measure.

Bohac’s bill recalls another recent example in which an elected official in Texas stepped into a debate involving religion and schools.

In October, Gov. Rick Perry and Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott held a news conference to announce their support of a group of cheerleaders in Kountze, an East Texas town of 2,100 people, where the students successfully fought for the right to display banners with religious references at football games.

Before a judge allowed the banners, Perry and Abbott said the students’ speech was protected by state law, specifically the Religious Viewpoint Antidiscrimination Act of 2007. That law confirmed a student’s right to expression without expanding religious expression in schools beyond what is allowed by the Supreme Court, the governor’s office says on its website.

Representatives from the Texas Association of School Boards were not available to comment

A police officer stands in front of smoldering apartment units Thursday in Northwest Austin. The Red Cross served more than 1,000 meals and snacks to first responders and affected families.