BOSTON — Some area lawmakers are supporting legislation on Beacon Hill that would allow students to openly engage in prayer and other religious activities during the school day by defining the students’ rights and protecting school districts from potential lawsuits.

The Joint Committee on Education heard testimony yesterday on a bill confirming students’ rights to express religious sentiments during school ceremonies such as commencement or sporting events. Such expressions have happened in Tewksbury, where Superintendent of Schools Christine McGrath said students have referenced their religion in speeches.

“Unless something is offensive, we give students a pretty broad latitude,” she said. “We’ve had respectful students who chose not to stand for the national anthem, and teachers that have given thoughtful answers to questions about Jesus. This year, we’ve also tried to reach out more to our Jewish community by putting the High Holy Days on our school calendar.”

Tewksbury’s representative, Jim Miceli, D-Wilmington, signed on as a co-sponsor of the bill. He said he remembered being an elementary student in Boston at a time when voluntary religious education was part of the school day.

“There was no marginalization of students of different faiths. If you didn’t want to participate, you just stayed in class and did other things,” he said. “This bill makes sense, it doesn’t single out one religion or the other.”

The bill would not permit students to proselytize their beliefs to others, and the schools would issue a disclaimer that all views expressed were the students’ alone. The intent is to protect schools from lawsuits if students choose to pray.

“What this bill aims to do is codify the rights of schools and students,” said Rep. Vinny deMacedo, R-Plymouth, the bill’s chief sponsor. “One of the cornerstones of our Constitution is the protection of religious liberty.”

DeMacedo said the bill would not be used to push any religion over another, and that all prayer would be voluntary.

“All of us have a different religious background, this isn’t just a Christian, or Jewish, or Muslim thing,” he said. “Right now schools are so concerned because of lawsuits that they don’t allow anything.”

Some school officials, however, said controversies over prayer or other religious activities during the school day have not come up in their districts.

“I haven’t had this issue cross my desk,” said Lowell School Superintendent Chris Scott. “This is the first I’ve ever heard about it.”

The bill, which is sponsored by legislators on both sides of the aisle, is the brainchild of the Massachusetts Family Institute, best known for supporting a failed bill to bar same-sex marriage in the state.

MFI President Kris Mineau said that, along with blocking an attempt to extend anti-discrimination protection to transgendered individuals, this bill is one of their top legislative priorities.

“There’s nothing new here, nothing controversial,” Mineau said. “This bill puts down on one sheet of paper what students have a right to do.”

Seventeen legislators are listed as supporters of the bill, including Sen. Bruce Tarr, R-Gloucester, and Rep. Stephen DiNatale, D-Fitchburg.

Rep. Kevin Murphy, D-Lowell, was mistakenly listed as a sponsor. He said he had never signed the bill.

“Frankly, I think the language is a little nebulous,” Murphy said. “I’m a lawyer by trade, and it’s hard to tell from this bill exactly what kinds of expression are protected.”

Lowell City Solicitor Christine O’Connor said she had examined similar questions when she recommended that the City Council remove their opening prayer in 2007.

“Providing time to pray might be inappropriate, even if students can say any prayer they want or no prayer at all, because it could be taking time from a public school day,” she said. “But I am sure that all this will be vetted by the House counsel.”