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Florida classrooms would be required to start the day with a moment of silence under a bill passed off the House floor Wednesday.

The proposal is causing some to raise concerns about separation of church and state.

Lawmakers hope to improve the mental health of students by requiring one to two minutes of silent reflection at the start of each school day, but the specific statue the bill changes also includes ‘permitting study of bible and religion’.

Devon Graham with American Atheists fears the bill is a back door way of mandating prayer in schools.

“It’s not neutral, it’s not innocuous by any stretch of the imagination,” said Graham. “There’s supposed to be a strict separation of church and state and it’s for the best for everyone. When things like this impede upon that, that’s an issue for everybody.”

While the bill received unanimous support as it moved through the House committee process, but received 20 no votes when passed off the chamber floor.

It’s faced continued opposition from some Senate Democrats.

“I think you put kids in a very uncomfortable position when they’re in a classroom and the majority of the class is of one faith,” said Senator Gary Farmer during the bill’s final Senate committee stop Monday.

But Senate sponsor Dennis Baxley argued the bill is crafted to benefit students from all backgrounds.

“Without crossing the line with advocating what people do during that moment of silence. That would be between them and their parents,” said Baxley.

The bill allows students to use the moment of silence how ever they best see fit and prohibits teachers from giving direction, but Graham worries that may not be the way it works in practice.

“I could imagine different teachers telling their students different ways of how to do this and it could be explicitly, you must bow your head, you must close your eyes, you must pray,” said Graham.

If the moment of silence is misused, Graham believes lawsuits would likely ensue.