An annual day of prayer for Kentucky’s students at school would become state law under a bill passed Thursday in the House.

But Amber Duke, a spokeswoman for ACLU Kentucky told the Herald-Leader Friday that if the bill passes the Senate and is signed into law, “it should be made clear to our public schools that they should not be in the business of endorsing religious practices in violation of students’ constitutional rights.”

“The content of the bill doesn’t mandate prayer, but as we’ve seen time and time again in the Commonwealth when it comes to religion and schools, what is intended by the General Assembly can be lost in translation when it reaches the local school level,” Duke said.

House Bill 40 sponsor Rep. Regina Huff, R-Williamsburg, said the annual prayer event has been proclaimed by Kentucky’s governor the past two years. HB 40 would designate the last Wednesday of September each year as “A Day of Prayer for Kentucky’s Students” by law, and require the governor to issue an annual proclamation for the event, an LRC statement said.

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