The Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD) Board of Education, in response to new state requirements, introduced a policy allowing students to leave school for off-site religion classes during their school day.
This practice is often called “religious release time.” Ohio lawmakers are forcing all public school districts in the state to create a religious release time policy as part of a slew of new education rules dubbed the “Parents’ Bill of Rights.” Ohio Governor Mike DeWine signed the new rules into law at the beginning of the year. They will take effect in April.
The CMSD board introduced the religious release time policy during its March 11 meeting. Board members haven’t voted on the policy yet — they will do so during the board’s March 18 meeting. [Update: The board adopted the policy at its meeting on March 28.]
Can CMSD students leave school for religion classes?
Under the CMSD board’s draft policy, students will be able to temporarily leave their buildings during school time to attend religion classes somewhere else, but there are some stipulations.
- Parents or guardians have to give written consent at least 24 hours before their child plans to leave school.
- Students have to make up any missed school work.
- Students can’t leave during any of their core classes.
The draft policy, aligned with the new state rules, notes that core classes include anything required for graduation. That means students can’t take religious release time during classes such as English, math, science, history and many other specialized subjects.
CMSD also can’t spend any money on off-site religion classes, so responsibility for students falls on parents and the organizations hosting the religion classes. Parents or host organizations have to transport students. The host organizations have to keep attendance records and share them with the district. Teachers and volunteers at the host organizations also have to pass criminal background checks, just like public school teachers.
How many students take off-site religion classes?
Before Ohio lawmakers set these new rules, state law gave boards of education the option to have a policy for off-site religion classes. The new rules made having a policy mandatory.
LifeWise Academy, an Ohio-based Christian nonprofit focused on religious education, is one of the most prominent providers of off-site religious classes in Ohio. The organization’s founder, Joel Penton, testified in favor of the new religious release time rules during a meeting of the Ohio Senate’s Education Committee last November.
LifeWise has chapters in about 160 Ohio school districts, but the organization operates in more than two dozen other states. Overall, LifeWise enrolls about 50,000 students. The organization reported $35.3 million in revenue last year, more than double its $13.8 million revenue in 2023.
Some parents criticized the new religious release time rule during that same Education Committee meeting. Sarah Paulett, a parent of two children in the Revere Local School District in Summit County, told lawmakers she opposed the new rule because it overstepped the authority of local school boards.
“I choose to raise my children with a religious education, but I do not want to impose that choice on anyone else or have it occur during school hours,” Paulett said. “As a parent, I prioritize religious education and value a strong academic education, so I find time to teach religion outside school hours.”