Ohio Educators, Parents and Religious Leaders Testify Against Religious Release Time Bill
Over 150 people submitted opponent testimony against a bill requiring districts to allow students to be released from school for religious instruction
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More than 150 people submitted opponent testimony against a bill that would require school districts to allow students to be released from school for religious instruction.
Opponents argued religious release time programs disrupt the school day, create a divide between students who participate and those that don鈥檛, and interfere with religious freedom.
鈥淢y concern with religious release time programs during the school day is the rights of the children who do not participate in those programs,鈥 said Rev. Vicki Zust, rector of Saint Mark鈥檚 Episcopal Church in Upper Arlington.
Three opponents were able to give their testimony during last week鈥檚 Ohio House Primary and Secondary Education Committee meeting and committee chair Gayle Manning, R-North Ridgeville, had to remind those in attendance to be quiet during testimony.
鈥淲e are not applauding. 鈥 We remain silent,鈥 Manning said.
The three opponents specifically spoke about experiences they have seen with , a Hilliard-based religious instruction program that enrolls . LifeWise, a non-denominational Christian program that teaches the Bible, is in .
鈥淒uring proponent testimony in June, it became clear this bill is not about religious pluralism,鈥 said Christina Collins, executive director of Honesty for Ohio Education. 鈥淚t is about one, very well-funded program wanting to push its brand of Christian nationalist beliefs on a captive audience during the school day.鈥
Nearly 120 people submitted proponent testimony in June.
Ohio law currently permits school district boards of education to make a policy to let students go to a course in religious instruction, so these bills would strengthen the law by requiring a policy. A set of companion bills would require school districts to create a religious release time policy and change the wording of the existing law in the Ohio Revised Code from 鈥渕ay鈥 to 鈥渟hall.鈥
was introduced earlier this year by state Rep. Gary Click, R-Vickery, and Al Cutrona, R-Canfield, who is now a state senator. Sen. Michele Reynolds, R-Canal Winchester, introduced this summer.
鈥淭o be honest with you guys, I think this might be the easiest piece of legislation before you this General Assembly,鈥 Cutrona said during a recent Senate Education Committee meeting. 鈥淲hy? Because there鈥檚 only one word change in this bill, and so we鈥檙e just moving it from may to shall. 鈥 The intent of this bill is to leave the decision to participate in religious release time programs up to the parents, not the school boards.鈥
鈥淒espite the fact that it鈥檚 only one word, it鈥檚 a huge word,鈥 said State Sen. Catherine D. Ingram, D-Cincinnati.
The United States Supreme Court upheld released time laws during the 1952 case, which allowed a school district to have students leave school for part of the day to receive religious instruction.
鈥淲hile LifeWise claims that the process of leaving and returning to school is smooth, anyone who has ever tried to organize first graders for a field trip knows it is far from seamless,鈥 said Jaclyn Fraley, the mom of a first-grader in Westerville Schools.
Westerville City Schools Board of Education recently that allowed LifeWise Academy to take public school students off-campus for Bible classes during school hours.
鈥淥ne parent in my group (Westerville Parents United) shared that her daughter was told in class that she and her mothers were 鈥済oing to hell鈥 because they belong to an LGBTQIA family,鈥 Fraley said. 鈥淎nother parent described how their child was told they didn鈥檛 鈥榬eally believe in God鈥 because they are not Christian.鈥
Elementary school students who do not attend LifeWise in Defiance Schools in Northwest Ohio are sent to study hall and are called 鈥淟ifeWise leftovers,鈥 Fraley said.
Zust said parents in her congregation who choose not to allow their children to participate in the program are mocked and threatened.
鈥淭his creates a hostile environment for the children of my congregation as well as children of other denominations and faiths,鈥 Zust said. 鈥淭hat is a violation of their First Amendment and educational rights.鈥
Opponents argued there are other ways students can learn about religion outside of school time.
鈥淲e didn鈥檛 have these programs,鈥 Fraley said. 鈥淥ur parents took us to church. Our parents took us to temple. Our parents took us to mosque. Our parents took us to the places where we went to learn those religious beliefs.鈥
State Rep. Jodi Whitted, D-Madeira, asked how these programs accommodate students with Individualized Education Programs, but Collins explained there can鈥檛 be an exchange of information with programs like LifeWise since IEPs remain within the district.
鈥淲e鈥檙e talking about students with special needs who are being sent off campus to people that are ill-equipped to work with them, with no built-in caveats for necessitating being able to meet those needs,鈥 Collins said.
State Rep. Beryl Brown Piccolantonio, D-Gahanna, asked how districts accommodate students with fixed prayer times.
鈥淭hey simply leave, do their prayers and come back,鈥 Collins said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not a leaving the campus, coming back with stickers and candy kind of event.鈥
State Rep. Joe Miller, D-Amherst, said his office has received nearly 200 emails against H.B. 445 and less than 20 in support of it.
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