The Worthington School Board will discuss its religious release time policy at its regular Wednesday night meeting, at the Worthington Education Center, located at 200 East Wilson Bridge Road in Worthington.
A change to the policy could affect the district's LifeWise Academy program, which allows students to leave school during the day for Bible study.
Westerville City Schools removed its religious release policy in late September, ending the LifeWise Academy program in that district.
Jaclyn Fraley is a Westerville parent who helped found Westerville Parents United, the group that pushed that district to reconsider its policy. She told WOSU’s Anna Staver on Wednesday that elementary students who were not attending the Christian-themed LifeWise program were bullied due to their families' differing faiths or lifestyles. She said one girl was bullied because her parents were in the LGBTQ+ community.
“It's not outright aggressive bullying, but it's comments like, ‘well, then you're going to hell,'” Fraley said.
LifeWise Academy's CEO, Joel Penton of Hilliard, has claimed that schools with the program have better attendance and fewer disciplinary problems.
RELATED — Hilliard-based program offers Bible study during school hours. Some parents have concerns.
And Ohio Sen. Al Cutrona, who is backing bills to require schools to keep or create religious release policies, said bullying is a “totally different issue.”
“Let’s pull back a little,” Cutrona said, when he was also a guest on Anna Staver's show. “Why is it the program’s fault?”
Cutrona said it should be up to schools to discipline bad student behavior.
Cutrona introduced a bill in the Ohio House and he is now backing another bill in the Senate that seeks to change the word "may" to "shall" in an Ohio law about adopting religious release time policies. If passed, public schools would be required to have religious release time policies on the books, though Cutrona said districts could set the details.
“Parents should have the right and the opportunity to rear their child and make decisions for their children. This is simply a parental rights bill,” Cutrona said.
Both bills are facing an end-of-the-year deadline.
“And I will be more than happy to re-introduce this next General Assembly and have more of a track to run it on,” Cutrona said. “But frankly, as far as I'm concerned, my colleagues are extremely excited both in the House and the Senate to see this voted on and enacted into law.”
