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Ohio’s bill requires school districts to set aside time off for religious education. Ohio Capital Journal

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Two Republican lawmakers are trying to tighten an existing Ohio law by requiring — rather than just allowing — school districts to create a policy that exempts students from school to attend leisure religious education.

State Reps. Al Cutrona, R-Canfield, and Gary Click, R-Vickery, recently introduced House Bill 445 and so far it has had one hearing in the House Primary and Secondary Education Committee.

“The correlation between religious education, schools and good governance is enshrined in our Constitution,” Click said in his written testimony. “You will notice that HB 445 does not identify which religion, but merely recognizes the opportunity for religious education. This opportunity is open to all religions.”

May vs. will

Ohio law currently allows school district boards of education to make policies requiring students to take a leisure religious education course.

HB 445 would require school districts to develop a policy and change the wording of existing law in the Ohio Revised Code from “may” to “shall.”

“While many schools have taken advantage of the law’s permissive language, some school boards have been less accommodating,” Click said. “Regardless of their intentions, their failure to implement sound policies on this issue results in a denial of the constitutional right of both students and parents to the free exercise of religion.”

State Rep. Gary Click, R-Vickery. (Photo by Graham Stokes for Ohio Capital Journal. Republish photo only with original story.)

Cutrona agreed with his co-sponsor.

“Words have meanings and they really matter,” he said. “So the difference between a little word like may and will can make all the difference in the world.”

Any religious education that becomes available must meet three criteria, which remain the same under the bill: the courses must take place off school grounds, be privately funded and students must have parental consent.

The United States Supreme Court upheld the declassified time laws in 1952 Zorach vs. Clauson case in which a school district could allow students to leave school for part of the day to receive religious instruction.

State representative Sarah FowlerArthurR-Ashtabula questioned why this bill is necessary if the law is already in effect.

“In my experience, when federal law requires it, school districts are usually very reluctant to violate federal law or federal practice,” she said at a recent committee hearing. “I was just wondering why you would want to see that change in state law as well, if it is already required in practice.”

Click said he knows of nearly a dozen school districts that have denied this religious instruction programs such as LifeWise Academy, an Ohio-based religious instruction program that teaches the Bible.

“I believe that as we clarify this language, there will be a broader statement that this is not only constitutional and legal, but it is something that needs to be done in the state of Ohio to accommodate parents and their children,” Click said . .

LifeWise Academy

Click mentioned LifeWise Academy in his testimony.

“(LifeWise founder) Joel Penton set out to organize and create an efficient model that provided instructor training, a character-based Bible curriculum, and a platform that is reliable and reputable for participating schools,” Click said. “…While this opportunity is not limited to LifeWise, they have formulated the model program for releasing time for religious education.”

LifeWise was founded in 2018, launched in two Ohio school districts in 2019 and today has nearly 30,000 students in more than 12 states. The program will be in more than 170 Ohio school districts next school year – more than a quarter of the state’s school districts.

LifeWise, which is nondenominational, supports the bill.

“It gives parents the freedom to choose character-based religious education for their children during the school day, consistent with Supreme Court rulings,” Penton, the founder of LifeWise, said in a statement.

However, there is resistance to LifeWise.

Legal Officer Sammi Lawrence of the Freedom From Religion Foundation wrote a letter to more than 600 school districts in Ohio have been urged not to allow LifeWise do not take place in their district.

“By its own words, LifeWise’s goal is clear: They seek to indoctrinate and convert public school students to evangelical Christianity by convincing public school districts to partner with them to bring LifeWise-released time Bible lessons to public school communities,” said Lawrence.

Online petitions against LifeWise have also arisen before the program comes to a school district.

Follow OCJ Reporter Megan Henry on X.

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