‘Give them hope’: How Bible study is becoming part of the day for some public school kids

Reading, writing, arithmetic — and religion?

Some parents in northern Ohio communities are seeking to add religious instruction to the school day for their public schoolchildren.

A U.S. Supreme Court ruling from more than 70 years ago allows students in public schools to participate in religious instruction during school hours as long as it’s done off-site with parental approval and private funding.

Parents and other supporters in the Field Local School District are among those who are working with a nonprofit group called LifeWise Academy to launch a Bible instruction program, possibly as soon as late fall.

“I believe the purpose is to bring hope to these children in a messed-up world,” said Vicky Naugle, a leader for Field LifeWise Academy initiative, whose granddaughter attends Brimfield Elementary School. “Many of these kids that we’re going to see probably come from a church-going family, but there are many that probably have never heard the gospel of Jesus Christ. And so our hope is to be able to reach them and give them a hope — something to look forward to in the days ahead.”

LifeWise Academy, based in suburban Columbus, has brought Bible instruction to several hundred school buildings in more than 10 states in the last few years.

The Ashland City School District was the first northern Ohio district to launch a program last school year, according to Buddy Workman, an advancement representative with LifeWise Academy.

“They ran last [school] year and are advancing all the way up to eighth grade this year,” he said.

The local group running the program declined to comment, referring questions to Workman, and district officials did not return phone messages seeking comment.

Efforts also are underway to start LifeWise Academy programs in Copley-Fairlawn, Wooster and Alliance, where a program is expected to begin in October.

LifeWise officials say parents in several other local districts — including Aurora, Kent, Rootstown, Akron, Green, Hudson, Revere, Stow-Munroe Falls and Lake — have signed an online form expressing interest in starting a program. Getting signatures from at least 50 supporters is the first of 10 steps to launch a LifeWise Academy in a community and in some of these districts, signatures are still being gathered.

Supreme Court made it legal

The U.S. Supreme Court opened the door for religious instruction during the school day when it ruled in 1952 that it was allowed, as long as three requirements are met:

• Classes are off school property.

• It is privately funded.

• Students participate with the permission of their parents.

It is legally open to any religious instruction.

“There are other groups who have programs,” said Derek Stemen, LifeWise vice president of advancement. “New York has quite a few Jewish release-time programs. And in Utah, there are quite a few Mormon release-time programs. So, yeah, any groups are able to take advantage of this and we enjoy that freedom. We’re excited for that opportunity and that parents have the opportunity.”

State law also addresses what it calls “released time,” defined as “a period of time during which a student is excused from school to attend a course in religious instruction conducted by a private entity off school district property.”

“The Ohio Revised Code allows released-time education, which allows groups like LifeWise Academy to pick up students on their own dime and take them to Bible school somewhere off campus,” Wooster Superintendent Gabe Tudor said.

According to the Ohio Revised Code, parent or guardian consent must be in writing; the “sponsoring entity,” not the schools, are responsible for student safety while they are away from the school and are liable for any injury; the sponsoring entity must keep attendance records and make them available to the school district; and the schools are not responsible for transportation.

School districts are allowed to create their own policies within the law — Field school policy, for example, largely mirrors the state’s laws.

The ORC also stipulates that students cannot miss “core curriculum” instruction and that students taking part in a legal released time program “shall not be considered absent from school.”

State law also includes provisions allowing for high school students to receive credit for religious instruction.

How LifeWise Academy works

In a video on the LifeWise website, Joel Penton, LifeWise Academy founder and CEO, explains that the idea for a national program developed in 2018, inspired by a release-time program formed in his hometown of Van Wert, Ohio, in 2012.

Stemen said that in 2019, LifeWise got its feet wet with two schools, in northwest and eastern Ohio. Three more schools were added in 2020.

“From there, the growth really started to pick up,” Stemen said. “In 2021, we jumped to 36 total schools and … last year in 133 schools, and then this year, we’re set to be in over 300 schools across 11 states.”

Workman said LifeWise academies are started after local residents, typically parents, contact the organization expressing an interest.

“We basically are a plug-and-play way for communities to get character education in public schools,” he said.

The local academies pay LifeWise $20 annually per student, which helps with the cost of insurance and background checks for staff. Additional fees are charged for handling payroll for the local academy, as well as the cost of the curriculum, which was developed by another entity that LifeWise has a contract with giving it the right to use it.

“But other than that, 100% of the money stays locally to help run the local program,” Workman said.

Buses that some groups use are purchased at a relatively low cost, typically around $2,500, from school districts replacing the buses. LifeWise then makes any needed repairs to the buses and paints them red to distinguish them from regular school buses.

Workman said LifeWise is subject to the same law as school districts requiring safety inspections by the Ohio State Highway Patrol.

The local organization also decides where it will hold classes. One program, said Workman, meets at a YMCA. Another rents a storefront in a strip mall.

“It's different for each community,” he said. “Some communities use a church, they’re housed in a church. Other communities have buildings. We’ve had communities build brand-new facilities within walking distance to the school. We’ve had some communities maybe buy a house, close in proximity to the school, and then refurbish it and make it into a classroom.”

Parent explains why daughter attends LifeWise

Jenn Atwood, a mother of two and wife of a pastor in the Columbus suburb of Powell, had never heard of LifeWise Academy until her 7-year-old daughter, Grace, saw classmates boarding a LifeWise bus last year.

Grace and her brother, Theo, 5, attend public schools in the Olentangy Local School District.

Every Tuesday, Grace misses lunch, recess and a rotating elective class that switches between a study hall, art class and gym, Atwood said. At a nearby church, students eat lunch, play games, run relay races and obstacle courses to make up for the lack of a free period.

Crafts, lessons, stories and songs make up the bulk of their time, said Atwood, who noted that parents don’t attend the classes.

The program in the Olentangy school district is free for participants, Atwood said.

“My daughter loves art, so it says a lot that she’s willing to miss that class for LifeWise,” Atwood said. “Now she comes home on Tuesdays and tells us Bible stories and about the activities they do.”

Atwood said LifeWise Academy has been appreciated by her family, which moved to Ohio from southern California in 2022.

“It’s allowed her to make new, like-minded friends and it’s something really special for them,” Atwood said. “She also gets to learn her faith on her own.”

A work in progress in Field schools

Naugle said the local effort to start a LifeWise Academy in Field schools began this year.

“I saw something on Facebook that they were looking to start something in the Field school district and they were looking for people to be on the steering committee to get it started up,” she said. “I thought it was a great idea, but I didn’t want to be involved. The more I thought about it, and the more I prayed about it, I decided that I did want to be involved. So I contacted them and it just snowballed from there.”

Naugle, who plans to be on the leadership board, said the Field LifeWise Academy will be limited to students at Brimfield and Suffield elementary schools because an organization not affiliated with LifeWise has been offering a similar program for middle and high school students for the last few years.

Workman said that existing LifeWise academies and those in the works are local initiatives and are run locally, with support and guidance from LifeWise.

“This is all grassroots. Every program is independently run by their local community,” he said. “The director is hired from the local community. The teachers are local community people. Volunteers are local.”

He said that because many districts already have release-time policies in place, most of the contact with the district is typically through the superintendent, with no formal school board approval needed.

The Field steering committee has met with Superintendent Dave Heflinger but has not gone before the school board.

Heflinger did not return phone calls or respond to an email seeking comment. School Board President Steve Calcei said he had heard of LifeWise Academy, but did not have enough information to comment.

Naugle said the plan is for Brimfield students to take classes at Victory Baptist Church, across the street from the school, and Suffield Elementary School students will go to Suffield Fellowship Church.

“The Hill Church in Brimfield has offered their buses and drivers to transport the kids,” she said.

Multiple classes, lasting 45 minutes to an hour including transportation time, will be scheduled each week to accommodate students schedules and grade levels.

“Each child is only going to be pulled out once a week,” Naugle said.

In keeping with state law, students will miss “specials,” noncore curriculum time such as gym, music, art, computer instruction and library, or recess to attend the classes, Naugle said.

Besides a director, a part-time teacher, either paid or a volunteer, also must be found. The teacher will follow a curriculum provided by LifeWise.

“To my knowledge, the only requirement is [teachers] have to have a strong, strong faith,” Naugle said. “They have to be grounded in the Bible. They have to be fingerprinted and background checked. And they do not need a teaching license. So it could be anybody from a church, somebody who teaches Sunday school or, you know, just somebody that attends a church somewhere that wants to help with kids’ classes.”

The ORC only requires release-time teachers to have qualifications similar to other school district teachers at the high school level when classes are offered for credit.

Naugle said fundraising also needs to be planned. In addition, she expects there will be efforts to provide interested families with information, including at Brimfest and upcoming school open houses.

Copley-Fairlawn organizers approach school board

In the Copley-Fairlawn schools, a group is forming a steering committee of three to seven members representing at least three local churches.

“The Copley-Fairlawn City School District received and reviewed the preliminary Logistical Proposal for implementing the LifeWise Academy Released Time program in February 2023,” Assistant Superintendent Aimee Kirsch said in an email to the Akron Beacon Journal. “The proposal included participation for students attending Herberich Primary School and Arrowhead Primary School beginning in the Fall of 2023.”

Kirsch said the district had not heard from the local LifeWise group seeking to form an academy since Feb. 7.

“It is important to note that LifeWise Academy is not a district-sponsored activity,” she said. “According to Ohio law and Copley-Fairlawn City Schools Board policy, we are required to provide release time for religious instruction during the school day.”

‘Just because it is legal, doesn’t make it right’

Release time programs can be controversial.

A LifeWise program is in the works in Hilliard City Schools outside Columbus and the school board there approved release-time policies last September. The 3-2 vote followed two hours of public comments during which about 50 of the approximately 200 audience members spoke, making it clear they were also divided on the matter.

“Public schools is not the place for this,” one woman said. “Just because it is legal, doesn’t make it right. Any religious instruction a parent chooses should come outside the school day.”

Fact check: Bibles are allowed in schools and prisons

A man said the presence of release time for religious instruction was “an exceptional value-add to the district” and appealed to the board to approve it and join more “forward-thinking” districts that have such policies.

Stemen and Workman said that it is not the intention of LifeWise to be in conflict, but to work with schools and communities.

“We want to be a supportive ally in the fight for things like better character education, mental health, community and family involvement,” Stemen said. “And, for us, we believe LifeWise positively impacts students of schools and communities through this character-based education.

“A lot of our students today struggle. You know, there’s all-time highs with anxiety, depression and suicide, and we want to positively impact those students with biblically based character education.”

Akron Beacon Journal reporters Bryce Buyakie and April Helms and the Columbus Dispatch contributed to this story. Reporter Jeff Saunders can be reached at jsaunders@recordpub.com.

This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: LifeWise Academy brings Bible study to kids in Ohio public schools