Though most public schools are out for summer break, conversations are heating up about religious instruction during school hours.
A growing number of Northeast Ohio public schools and others around the country have been considering releasing students during the school day to attend optional, off-campus classes.
The movement is in part driven by Ohio-based Christian education nonprofit LifeWise Academy.
WHAT IS LIFEWISE ACADEMY?
According to LifeWise Academy, more than 30,000 students in at least 330 schools across 13 states participate in its program. It offers bible-based teachings during the school day to public school students free of charge.
“The program is off school property, privately funded and students have parental permission,” said LifeWise Academy CEO Joel Penton.
Penton told News 5 that the lessons are rooted in the gospel and focus on teaching students what the bible says about character traits.
“Each and every week, there’s a different character focus. So it may be gratitude or responsibility or humility or sacrifice,” Penton said.
The program, which started being offered in public schools in 2019, is legally allowed under a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in favor of “released time religious instruction” (RTRI). The ruling allows participation in religious programs during the school day as long as they are off school property, privately funded and authorized by the parents or guardians of the participants.
Penton said the organization works with school districts to arrange the weekly class during a time that’s disruptive to learning. He said some districts create a study hall period or allow students to attend LifeWise academy during an elective period, like lunch, recess, physical education or music class.
He said offering the program during school hours helps make the lessons as accessible as possible.
“Before and after school, there’s a large chunk of kids that won’t be able to participate,” he said, pointing to transportation challenges and other out-of-school commitments.
WHAT CRITICS ARE SAYING
As LifeWise Academy has grown in Ohio and beyond, so has the opposition to the program.
“In theory, it’s all separate and legal. In practice, none of it is,” said Molly Gaines, a mother in southwest Ohio.
Gaines co-founded Parents Against LifeWise in 2023 with Zachary Parrish, whose daughter attends school in Northwest Ohio. Both believe LifeWise Academy should not qualify as an RTRI program because they said it improperly evangelizes in schools.
“That is their outright, claimed mission - to reach ‘unchurched’ students. That’s conversion in fancy words and they’re using the schools to do that,” said Parrish.
The pair said its group has fielded numerous concerns from other parents about LifeWise Academy sowing exclusion in schools where it’s offered.
“There’s a lot of pressure that’s being created,” said Gaines. “There’s these imaginary hierarchies in elementary schools now - where it’s these kids that are coming back saying, ‘Oh, you don’t go? Why can’t you go? You’re going to go to hell. Your family’s going to go to hell.'”
Parrish said when he declined to have his daughter participate in the program, he believed the quality of her education suffered.
“Schools are rearranging their schedules to accommodate LifeWise. And it comes down to - my daughter and lots of other students are being shoved into study halls. She was being put in a study hall in second grade,” he said.
Some critics also believe LifeWise is not being transparent about its teachings and is promoting anti-LGBT and anti-divorce policies.
In July 2023, clergy from churches in the Huron community wrote a letter to Huron City Schools, informing the district they were not in support of the program.
“We have previously met with representatives of LifeWise Academy who failed to answer many of our questions,” part of the letter said. “We are uneasy about the curriculum, the fundraising that is required and the possibility that students may be pulled from instructional time…”
Parrish is facing a lawsuit from LifeWise Academy for copyright violation after he released the curriculum online. Parents Against LifeWise said it was a group decision to share the information on its website.
“The real issue is that parents, administrators and clergy members should be able to review this before they decide whether they want to send their kid in the middle of the school day,” Parrish told News 5.
LIFEWISE’S RESPONSE
Penton told News 5 the criticism of LifeWise Academy is relatively recent in the organization’s 5-year history.
He said thousands of students in hundreds of schools have enjoyed participating in the program and benefitted from its teachings.
In response to the lawsuit, he said LifeWise has a licensing agreement with the creator of the curriculum and doesn’t have the rights to release it publicly.
He emphasized and directed those with questions or concerns to the organization’s webpage, answering frequently asked questions.
“Parents don’t need to participate, churches don’t have to participate. The more the merrier. We invite all to participate and we also recognize that not everyone’s going to and that’s ok. That’s part of the wonderful thing about living in this country,” Penton said.
WHAT SCHOOL DISTRICTS ARE SAYING
This month, Elyria City Schools posted on its Facebook page about the program:
“Hello Pioneers, just posting to clear the air on some misinformation circulating on social media about an organization called Lifewise. The social media postings that we've seen seem to imply that Lifewise is somehow affiliated with Elyria Schools or other public school districts in Ohio--It is not. Lifewise is an independent entity that is not part of Elyria Schools or any other public school district that we're aware of. It is an outside organization—not affiliated with Elyria Schools and not housed in the schools. Again this is a separate entity--not a program of our district, and it does not take place on school grounds. Thank you.”
A spokesperson for the district further clarified to News 5 that the program is not available as an extracurricular, and if a parent requested the release of their student during the school day for any reason, the district would work with parents directly.
“We want our students in school and engaged the entire day and we believe all elements of the day are core and crucial to students’ development,” said Elyria City Schools communications director Amy Higgins.
The LifeWise website shows that 57 people have signed a petition to bring the program to Elyria City Schools. It also mentions would-be organizers of the local chapter are currently on step 4 of 10. “Step 6” is to obtain school permission, but Higgins said no group has approached the district, and it does not plan to give approval.
Firelands Local Schools is planning to launch LifeWise Academy in the fall of 2024 for grades 1-4. Superintendent Mike Von Gunten said district staff members will neither promote nor dissuade student participation in the program.
He told News 5 that the building schedule has not been changed to accommodate parents who have opted their children into Lifewise’s Program, and participants will attend the program during their library time for 35 minutes one day each week.
“Other than tracking students that are enrolled in Lifewise, the district will not share any educational information with Lifewise. Lifewise staff are solely interviewed, vetted and hired by that organization,” Von Gunten said.
