WESTERVILLE, Ohio — A school board for a district in a Columbus suburb has voted to end a policy allowing students to leave buildings during the school day to receive religious instruction from the Lifewise Academy, reports say.
The Columbus Dispatch reports board members for Westerville City Schools voted, 4-0, on Monday to end the policy, with one member abstaining. The vote followed a meeting in which both supporters and opponents packed the board room. WBNS Channel 10 reports public comments before the vote took about 2½ hours.
“I want to make one thing very clear, the concern around this policy has nothing to do with any specific religion or religious programs in general,” board President Kristy Meyer said before the vote, WBNS reports.
Instead, Meyer said the board was concerned about liability issues and about disrupting the school day for students, WOSU reports. While students would leave during lunch and recess periods to attend Lifewise, Meyer said school officials believe it’s important students get a break during the school day.
School officials also said there had been reports of bullying from students who were part of the Lifewise program.
Meyer also said she was “puzzled” by the push to remove kids during the school day for programs such as Lifewise, the Dispatch reports. She said it could put a large amount of stress on the district if several religious programs began operating in the district, the Dispatch reports.
LifeWise CEO Joel Penton said in a statement to WOSU he was “disappointed” by the board’s decision.
“We have heard from families, teachers and community members who have seen the overwhelmingly positive impact that LifeWise has had on students who participate in the program,” Penton said in the statement.
Lifewise, which is based in Hilliard, currently is operating in 200 schools in Ohio. The program removes participating students from schools for 55 minutes once per week during music, art, physical education and library classes to study the Bible at no cost to students or the school.
But opponents say the program blurs the lines of separation of church and state, although the U.S. Supreme Court has said similar arrangements are legal. Zachary Parrish, of Fort Wayne, Indiana, started a Facebook page and website opposing Lifewise and published the programs curriculum online. Lifewise is suing Parrish for copyright infringement.
Ohio lawmakers are considering a bill that would require school districts to adopt policies allowing students to leave for religious instruction, a change from the current law that permits school districts to pass on such policies.
