---
type: "Bill"
title: "AN ACT RELATING TO EDUCATION -- RIGHTS AND DUTIES TEACHERS GENERALLY -- SEPTEMBER 11 CLASSROOM MOMENT OF SILENCE"
description: "Allows the school building administration or teachers in all grades to provide the opportunity for students to observe a brief moment of silence on every September 11."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ri"
legislature: "Rhode Island General Assembly"
session: "2025"
identifier: "HB 5251"
citation: "Rhode Island HB 5251 (2025)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Baginski", "Brien", "Casey", "Casimiro", "Chippendale", "Fascia", "Hopkins", "Noret", "Paplauskas", "Read"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 15
vote_count: 1
first_action: "2025-01-31"
last_action: "2025-07-02"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/e30a037f-02a9-4c97-99f6-ef8be82f8cd2"
source_url: "https://status.rilegislature.gov/"
source_hash: "9324ef1442820b8750ae7819554dccc557e24d75ed7b1b9e37ccc6e950c3dc0b"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ri"]
---

# Rhode Island HB 5251 (2025) — AN ACT RELATING TO EDUCATION -- RIGHTS AND DUTIES TEACHERS GENERALLY -- SEPTEMBER 11 CLASSROOM MOMENT OF SILENCE

Allows the school building administration or teachers in all grades to provide the opportunity for students to observe a brief moment of silence on every September 11.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **5251 SUB A** (committee substitute) — [source](http://webserver.rilegislature.gov/BillText/BillText25/HouseText25/H5251A.pdf)

## Votes

- PASSAGE — **66–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Baginski — primary (person)
- Brien — primary (person)
- Casey — primary (person)
- Casimiro — primary (person)
- Chippendale — primary (person)
- Fascia — primary (person)
- Hopkins — primary (person)
- Noret — primary (person)
- Paplauskas — primary (person)
- Read — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2025-01-31** 01/31/2025 Introduced, referred to House Education `introduction, referral-committee`
- **2025-02-21** 02/21/2025 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration (02/25/2025)
- **2025-02-25** 02/25/2025 Committee recommended measure be held for further study `committee-failure`
- **2025-05-02** 05/02/2025 Scheduled for consideration (05/06/2025)
- **2025-05-02** 05/02/2025 Proposed Substitute `substitution`
- **2025-05-06** 05/06/2025 Committee recommends passage of Sub A `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2025-05-16** 05/16/2025 Placed on House Calendar (05/22/2025) `reading-3`
- **2025-05-22** 05/22/2025 House passed Sub A `passage`
- **2025-05-23** 05/23/2025 Referred to Senate Education `referral-committee`
- **2025-06-13** 06/13/2025 Scheduled for consideration (06/17/2025)
- **2025-06-17** 06/17/2025 Committee recommends passage of Sub A in concurrence `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2025-06-18** 06/18/2025 Placed on the Senate Consent Calendar (06/20/2025) `reading-3`
- **2025-06-20** 06/20/2025 Senate passed Sub A in concurrence `passage`
- **2025-06-27** 06/27/2025 Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2025-07-02** 07/02/2025 Signed by Governor `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/e30a037f-02a9-4c97-99f6-ef8be82f8cd2`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Rhode Island legislature records).