Schools must allow religion

A new state law requires Indiana schools to allow students to receive religious instruction during the school day, and Centerville-Abington Community Schools will be among the first in the area to do so.

Complying with House Enrolled Act 1137 passed in the 2024 Indiana General Assembly session, CACS and LifeWise Academy leaders have agreed upon new plans for some interested students to attend Bible classes during the school day in 2024-25. The arrangement was facilitated by Centerville Christian Church, which has advocated for making LifeWise’s curriculum available to Centerville students.

LifeWise is a national program, and its organization’s website says the instruction is protected by a Supreme Court ruling.  

CACS Superintendent Mike McCoy, Assistant Superintendent Sean Stevenson and Centerville-Abington Elementary Principal Kelly VanWinkle met recently with church representatives to figure out logistics for the 2024-2025 school year. McCoy reported the discussion to CACS’ board at its July 24 meeting.  

At this time, CACS and church leaders agreed that LifeWise Academy would only be offered during study hall for seventh and eighth grade students while everyone figures out how the program will work. Scheduling LifeWise at the elementary level would be more complex.

“Life as a preteen is hard, and we are confident that the loving adults of LifeWise Centerville Abington will do everything we can to guide CJHS students to lessons and resources that will equip them to navigate life in a more positive and loving manner,” said Shari Markley, Centerville Christian’s community connections and engagement director.

Markley said LifeWise has 553 active programs this fall reaching more than 31,000 students in 27 states, and none have closed.

LifeWise’s local program will begin after Labor Day, giving students and teachers time to settle into routines.

Students who register for LifeWise and get parental approval will be allowed to leave school with a LifeWise representative for up to two hours a week. The LifeWise website says its volunteers must undergo background screening, child abuse awareness training and mandated reporting training.

Centerville’s LifeWise plans to offer an approximately one-hour session once a week for each grade, McCoy said. CJHS’s study halls last 90 minutes. 

Markley said LifeWise provides a “high-quality, gospel-centered curriculum with Biblical character education.”

CACS will make LifeWise’s registration information available for families to pick up as it does for other nonprofit organizations. However, LifeWise won’t receive special treatment, such as having booths at open houses, that other groups don’t get, McCoy said.  

Marlena Sewell, local LifeWise program director, is working with board members Stacy Wright and Markley. They’re seeking paid staff to be teachers and bus drivers. Additional volunteers can join the board or help in classrooms and behind the scenes.

They plan to start offering the program at Centerville Christian Church, but are considering other possible locations. 

LifeWise is required to provide transportation or walk students to their location. Centerville Christian’s vans will transport students, McCoy said. 

If school is delayed for inclement weather, LifeWise will be canceled to avoid scheduling challenges on shortened days. 

Markley hopes to expand programming to elementary and high school students.

In recent years, church officials had approached CACS officials about offering LifeWise during the school day, but after consulting with the district’s insurance agent, CACS administrators declined, concerned about liabilities if students left their campus, and the impact of losing learning time when they’re feeling state pressure to increase test scores.

However, the new state law requires schools to accommodate release time for religious instruction.

State Sen. Jeff Raatz (R-Richmond) was a sponsor for HEA 1137, which requires principals to allow public school students to attend religious instruction from an external vendor if their parent gives permission. Previously, principals could approve or deny requests.

In a news release, Raatz said some parents had told legislators they had difficulty working with principals to get approval for their children to be excused. 

“By putting authority back into the hands of parents, we are recognizing that parents know what type of education is best for their children,” Raatz said.   

Raatz said principals, parents and entities offering religious instruction will determine when students are excused. Organizations such as LifeWise are required under the law to work with principals to ensure these periods are the least disruptive to instructional time.

While school-day religious education is not new, some parent groups such as Ohio-based Parents Against LifeWise say that as allowing instructional time becomes legally required, they’ve heard from parents and students who raise concerns about the impact on student education, the nature of the curriculum being taught and the qualifications of LifeWise volunteers.

“There’s a lot of pressure that’s being created,” Parents Against LifeWise co-founder Molly Gaines told Cleveland’s News 5 ABC affiliate July 17. “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.’”

Chris Hardie contributed to this story.