The latest document the school district provided, which they received from Lifewise, shows staff and volunteers with background checks from October 2023 to October 2024. The record request was sent on March 20, 2026. For 18 months, Lifewise and the school district failed to verify that Lifewise staff had BCI/FBI background checks. Another issue with the records Lifewise sent is that the completed criminal background checks were not BCI/FBI checks. They were completed using ProScreening, a third-party background check provider Lifewise uses.

The document Lifewise provided the school also indicates there have been no new staff or volunteers for almost two years. Lifewise is constantly recruiting new volunteers. The absence of new background checks can only be explained by Lifewise not providing the names to the school for the 2025-2026 school year, or by their no longer conducting the required background checks. Both scenarios indicate a lack of oversight and care for child safety.

Lifewise Academy does not comply with the law, and school districts do not hold Lifewise accountable. Lifewise is using the public school system as a mission field, using elementary school students as pawns to recruit their friends to attend Lifewise. Lifewise guarantees enrollment. Lifewise boasts large enrollment percentages. Parents would assume the laws and policies put in place would be followed, but they are not. Lifewise is an opening for anyone who wants access to children without the same level of oversight as public schools.

The Hillsdale Local Schools replied to the public records request that only one email communication existed between Lifewise. The school indicated that all communication was done in person and verbally. Let that sink in. The school is insisting that it was getting verbal confirmation that all Lifewise employees meet the school district's policy on criminal background checks. No validation, no verification, just a Lifewise person walking into the office and saying, “It’s done.”

Public records requests for Lifewise generally return anywhere from several hundred to thousands of emails. In my opinion, a school district indicating that a single email exists for a school year from Lifewise is a lie. Lifewise and the school's email about weather delays, schedule changes for state testing, students not attending due to illness or medical appointments, changes to weekly enrollment, students adding or dropping Lifewise, etc. Hillsdale Local Schools is covering up information in public records requests.

With the recent arrests and convictions of three personnel who were involved with Lifewise programs, it is unacceptable that school districts are choosing to ignore the child safety portions of the school’s policies that allow Lifewise Academy to operate.

Sto Rox Lifewise Academy MOU 25-26

1.03MB ∙ PDF file

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Memorandum of Agreement between Sto-Rox and Lifewise Academy (PDF)

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Lifewise Academy is a released time religious instruction (RTRI) company that removes students from public schools for Bible study. Lifewise operates differently based on state law and local school board policy. Lifewise consistently attempts to remove students from instructional periods for as many hours as the law allows.

“The present record indeed tells us that the school authorities are neutral in this regard, and do no more than release students whose parents so request.”

Zorach v. Clauson (1952)

The Supreme Court ruled that school districts must be neutral towards RTRI programs, and signing agreements to expand the program is not neutral. A public school system using its compulsory attendance of students to also specifically support a single religious viewpoint is unconstitutional.

Parental Requirements Ignored by District

The Sto-Rox School District board policy for RTRI says students can participate in the RTRI program if, “Following each absence, the person in parental relation shall submit a statement attesting that the student attended the instruction, and the dates and hours of attendance.”

A public records request to Sto-Rox revealed that no parent has submitted the required documentation. Allowing organizations to operate outside the requirements of the board of education is not a new scenario for Lifewise. I asked the superintendent whether the board of education had waived this requirement for Lifewise or if there was another reason it was not being followed. They did not provide any feedback.

It is essential that public schools be environments that are supportive of all religious viewpoints. The Sto-Rox district, with the support of Lifewise, has broken down that barrier while ignoring the policies they claim to fully support to keep Lifewise legal.

The school district is unofficially sponsoring Lifewise Academy. The district’s buses and drivers are transporting the students. This gives the appearance that the school is supporting the religious program. Because they are supporting the religious program.

Brad Case is a bus driver for South Knox. According to the district’s website, he drives bus number 16. Photos posted on the South Knox Lifewise Facebook page show bus 16 in use. The bus has the driver’s name on the side. This is without a doubt the school district’s bus.

A public school district providing buses to a religious program that removes students from school during the school day is a ridiculous scenario. The Supreme Court in Zorach v. Clauson ruled that released time Bible classes were legal, but that school districts had to remain neutral.

“The present record indeed tells us that the school authorities are neutral in this regard, and do no more than release students whose parents so request.”

Zorach v. Clauson (1952)

A school district that allows a religious group to use its school buses during school hours violates Zorach. Many groups argue that equal access laws permit access to school buildings or buses. These arguments are flawed given the Equal Access Act's basic facts. Equal access is granted to student-led groups outside regular school hours. Lifewise Academy is not student-led, and the use occurs during school hours.

If a religious program cannot function without the public school system’s coordination, logistics, and resources, it’s not neutral and is using the public school system as a crutch.

This is a developing story, and a public records request has been sent to the South Knox School Corporation.

Wyandot Cares has been operating in the Carey Schools since 2006. Originally, students walked to a church close to the school. At some point, a vehicle was required for transportation. Social media posts from Wyandot Cares show Carey school buses being used in 2018.

Emails from Wyandot Cares to the school indicate that the school administration knew the school’s buses were being used. Lydia Miller, Director of Wyandot Cares, provided the school with its own policy in an email and then explained how she thought she could work around it to keep it legal. Whoever suggested this would be legal needs to be fired.

The school’s RTRI policy states: (policy 5223)

“Transportation of students to and from released time instruction is the complete responsibility of the sponsoring entity, the parent, guardian, and/or student. The Board, its members, and employees are immune from liability for any injuries arising from transportation to and from released time instruction. Further, no Board funds will be expended for, and no District personnel shall be involved in, the provision of religious instruction.”

Wyandot Cares’ interpretation of the policy is that as long as the school doesn’t offer the bus, it’s legal. The school administration agreed and told Wyandot Cares to contact the transportation coordinator directly. District staff were aware of the relationship between Wyandot Cares. For at least 5 years, the district has allowed a third party to use its buses for free, which is so insane I can’t even fathom how no one noticed.

If you run an organization that needs a bus during the day, call Carey Schools; they will hook you up. All joking aside. Who insured the buses during this time? Who verified the drivers’ credentials? Did they always use the school’s drivers, their own, or a mix? A district operating in direct violation of its own policies. If something were to happen to a student or a bus, it’s not clear who would be held liable, and that is a huge problem.

Schedules Support Religious Students

In addition to the misuse of school property, the district allowed Wyandot Cares to set the schedule on days with a 2-hour delay. Again. A religious organization is setting the policies for how a school runs its schedules. When Wyandot Cares first began offering its class in the Carey schools, the district said that students not participating in the religious program would not have their education affected.

The practice of stopping instructional time for students not attending the religious instruction is why RTRI has become a growing issue in schools. 19 years later, the same process is happening in the Carey schools. During the 2-hour delays, the schools were not going to send students out for religious instruction, but Wyandot Cares asked whether they could still do so, and the schools changed their plans. At the request of a religious organization, the schedules of all students were impacted.

Parents who choose to have their child miss class for religious instruction have now affected the instruction of those who do attend. The Carey schools have chosen to base when students receive instruction on the family’s religious choice. Ohio law and the Carey school policies for RTRI state, “The student assumes responsibility for any missed schoolwork.” The workaround the schools have implemented, to the benefit of families who have chosen religious instruction, is to stop instruction and forgo lessons students would miss.

Wyandot Cares was contacted for a comment about the article. No response was received.

A public records request to Mohawk Local Schools (Sycamore, OH) revealed that Wyandot Cares, a local RTRI program, and School Ministries, the national organization that assists Wyandot Cares, are distributing a paper from ADF in hopes of establishing Bible classes in the schools and/or using the school buses for transportation. The legal opinion aligns with the Equal Access Act rulings, which granted religious and non-religious student-led clubs equal access to secondary schools during non-instructional time.

The email from Wyandot Cares says Equal Access laws supersede released time laws. There is no mention of McCollum v. Board of Education (1948) or Zorach v. Clauson (1952), the two Supreme Court cases that specifically address released time programs. Zorach is quoted by every single released time program in the country. The goal of RTRI programs is to force public schools to offer Bible classes IN the schools.

In the public records, School Ministries identified two school districts that allowed a religious program to operate during the school day. Riverdale Local Schools and Conotton Valley Union Local Schools. Both districts allow a third-party organization to enter the school and teach Bible classes to students during the school day. The program is not student-led. This violates the Equal Access laws and also the school’s own policy for building access.

Legal Decisions

The ADF letter claims equal access laws allow released time during the school day. But the rulings they cite and the associated opinions all refer to after-school programs, not during the school day.

The following information is from LifeWise Exposed.

The Supreme Court rulings of Lamb’s Chapel v. Center Moriches (1993) and Good News Club v. Milford Central School (2001) both held that religious groups cannot be excluded from public school facilities when other community groups are allowed equal access. But those rulings share an important limitation — they explicitly apply to equal access to school facilities after school hours.

“The showing of this film series would not have been during school hours, would not have been sponsored by the school, and would have been open to the public, not just to church members. The District property had repeatedly been used by a wide variety of private organizations. Under these circumstances, as in Widmar, there would have been no realistic danger that the community would think that the District was endorsing religion or any particular creed, and any benefit to religion or to the Church would have been no more than incidental.”

Good News Club directly references Lamb’s Chapel in its majority opinion:

“As in Lamb’s Chapel, the Club’s meetings were to be held after school hours, not sponsored by the school, and open to any student who obtained parental consent, not just to Club members.”

Riverdale Local Schools

Riverdale Policy 5840 - Student Groups
“It is the policy of the Board of Education that student groups be recognized as authorized school organizations only if they are approved by the school administration, sponsored by school-approved personnel, composed of members of the current student body, hold the majority of their meetings at school, and have established aims which are educational in nature.”

Wyandot Cares is a registered non-profit that operates RTRI classes with the help of School Ministries. Wyandot Cares is not a student-led program. They hire teachers, volunteers, and other staff to support the organization. Students do not lead the classes or facilitate the program in any way. Wyndot Care’s website indicates they operate “off campus DURING the school day.” This is clearly for marketing purposes only and does not reflect the organization’s true intentions.

Riverdale Schools received $100 a year from Wyandot Cares to rent a room from the school. No contract was found by the school between 2021 and 2026. Only payments for the last three years could be located. School board policy requires that a schedule of fees be maintained by the superintendent, but none was provided. Board policy also states that use of the premises is allowed only outside regular school hours. It is not clear what the district charges other groups to rent space at the school, either during the school day or after hours.

Riverdale Policy 7510 - USE OF DISTRICT PREMISES
“For purposes of this policy, the terms “school premises” or “premises” refers to all indoor and outdoor structures, facilities, and land owned, rented, or leased by the Board. The term “non-school hours” refers to times prior to and after regular classroom instruction on a day that school is in session, and any day that school is not in session, including weekends, holidays, and vacation breaks.”

The district and Wyandot Cares both violated the law and school policy for years, creating a school-sponsored, taxpayer-funded religious program. Add to this that the district allowed staff and volunteers from the religious program onto school property during the school day, without conducting any background checks or vetting, or having any say in the hiring process. There was no contract with the outside organization, and the district’s insurance policy would not cover any liability. And the district did not validate the third-party organization’s insurance.

Conotton Valley Union Local Schools

The situation at Conotton Valley Union Local Schools was similar to that at Riverdale. Classes operated in the library during lunchtime. Students could attend the religious program run by a non-profit called Imagine School Ministries, which is also associated with the national School Ministries organization.

Administration confirmed that Conotton Valley does, in fact, allow the program to operate in the Library. The board of education approved rent of $50 each day the room is used. The school has staff who will monitor the class so they are aware of what is being taught. The school does not want it to be indoctrination, and they feel it’s not being done that way. The program was compared to Lifewise Academy, and it was made clear that it differs significantly from Lifewise because Imagine School Ministries does not indoctrinate students. This was part of the administration’s reasoning for allowing the program on school property. The school claimed to monitor the religious classes by having administrative staff sit in on them. This also suggests that the school administration sat in on Lifewise Academy classes and is now specifically choosing which religious programs are allowed in the school building based on the content of those classes.

The school district should never decide what a religious group can or cannot say to those gathered to worship. A government entity should not be checking into religious groups and deciding which ones can operate in the school. The administration allowed the school building to become a place where the school sponsored religion, and not an environment where religion is neutral. The school is placing a single religious viewpoint into the school.

School districts cannot allow an outside organization to rent a room and hold a religious class on the school property during school hours. School board policy for Conotton Valley states:

7510 - USE OF DISTRICT PREMISES
… H. Community organizations or groups of individuals primarily comprised of District residents/members of the community, including students (during non-school hours) and employees (when not working in the scope of their employment) formed or gathered for
1. charitable,
2. civic,
3. social,
4. religious, …

The phrase “during non-school hours” is the key to this policy and the religious classes. The school and the ministry are violating the policy by allowing a religious group to use the district premises during school hours.

It is clear that School Ministries has an agenda of reaching as many students as possible, even if it requires them to violate the law. School Ministries is not alone in this endeavor. Lifewise Academy also operates programs on school property and has used the same “Equal Access” laws as School Ministries. In emails between Lifewise CEO Joel Penton and his staff, he instructs them to work with School Ministries and another released time program, Bible2School.

Other School Districts

We have previously reported on Elmwood Local Schools and Newton Local Schools, which allowed Bible classes to be held on school district property. Other districts that also allow released time programs on the school property are Buckeye Valley Local School District (Delaware, OH), Benjamin Logan Local Schools (Bellefontaine, OH), Culver Community Schools Corporation (Culver, Indiana), Delphi Community Elementary School (Delphi, Indiana), and Waynedale Local School District (Apple Creek, Ohio).

The coordinated effort and similar legal opinions, when questioned about operating illegally on school property, show that these programs are not operating in a bubble. When Lifewise Academy began facing pushback from school districts and boards of education, it reached out to Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, who sent a letter to 600 school districts urging them to cooperate with released time programs. Dave Yost is stepping down from the Ohio AG position and will be working for Alliance Defending Freedom, the organization that has been assisting released time programs in breaking the law and operating on school grounds.

Ohio has been the epicenter for released time programs for fundamentalist Christian churches, and with the help of Dave Yost, it appears the situation for public schools will look even worse. Christian nationalism will be coming even faster IN a school near you.

Share Respect Public Schools

Lifewise Academy in Port Huron, MI, will remove students from school for 2 hours per week. Michigan law allows students to be excused for up to 2 hours per week, and Lifewise will use the full amount allowed. This is the first instance Respect Public Schools has seen of a released time program publicly advocating for more than one period per week in elementary school.

Lifewise Academy Port Huron director Jayvon Moncrief says local school districts view Lifewise Academy as an “unnecessary distraction.” He adds that the schools have no choice but to allow the program. That is not true. Michigan law does not require schools to coordinate with released time programs or Lifewise. Parents can sign their children out, but Michigan schools are not required by law to coordinate with Lifewise, unlike schools in Ohio, Indiana, Texas, Oklahoma, and other states.

Removing 2 hours per week will automatically put every student who attends Lifewise at a minimum attendance of 94%. Under Michigan’s definition of chronic absenteeism, both excused and unexcused absences remove students from time with teachers. A student who misses 10% of school hours is chronically absent. If a student attends Lifewise and then misses just 5 days of school for any other reason, they are now chronically absent. Port Huron Area School District has an average attendance rate of 95% for students who are not chronically absent. Drop this by 6%, and the average for the entire school is now chronically absent.

A Christian ministry whose vision is to “come alongside administrators and teachers” who want to remove students for the maximum number of hours legally allowed sounds counterproductive to supporting schools.

Lifewise Academy in Georgia and Louisiana is working with organizers who have admitted that Lifewise currently operates programs on school property. Scott Hymel met with Lifewise CEO Joel Penton and was told that Lifewise can operate in the school if the school allows it. They said this can save Lifewise money. It was repeated several times that Lifewise can operate IN THE SCHOOL if the school allows it. Released time religious instruction cannot be conducted on school property. It is illegal.

Hymel also said that it was surprising how many churches would not work with Lifewise.

Original video

Download a PDF of The Model Policy

This policy is built on a foundation and framework of the Secular Education Association’s model policy, different states’ legislation, as well as the US Supreme Court Case Zorach vs. Clauson and Washington Supreme Court Case Perry vs. District 81. (This model policy does not, however, purport to be legal advice).

Some important highlights:

• Limited to students above the age of discernment. (Follows Idaho legislation.) Guardians and educators alike agree that participation in activities which impact their education should be empowered decisions made by students themselves.

• Limited to just a few times during the school year. (Inspired by California legislation.) Public education remains the highest priority.

• Limited to the last class period of the day. (Follows New York City district policy.) This limits the amount of tracking and time required by staff, and severely cuts down on class disruption.

• School schedules will not be altered to accommodate RTRI Programs, and instruction must still take place for all students who do not leave to attend an RTRI Program. (Follows Perry vs. District 81 and Zorach vs. Clauson.)

• No spending of taxpayer dollars to promote RTRI Programs in public schools. (Follows Perry vs. District 81.) School districts remain neutral.

• RTRI classes take place off-campus, and do not require taxpayer-funded transportation. (Follows Perry vs. District 81 and Zorach vs. Clauson.)

• RTRI Programs must follow district child safety protocols without exception. (This is especially important since the documented discovery of one RTRI Program - LifeWise Academy - losing two children in two different states, including Washington.)

• School Districts may not release medical information, or other sensitive and highly confidential information, about students to a third party. (HIPAA and FERPA prohibit such disclosure, whether or not parents sign a “release form” as part of enrollment in an RTRI Program.)

Our model RTRI policy places student safety and well-being as the highest priority, as well as supporting public education. We do not support targeting young children or placing them in vulnerable situations. We do not waver on issues that threaten the neutral separation of church and state.

We support parents and students exercising their lawful right to a religious education outside of public school hours, devoid of taxpayer funds, and without disruption to the administration and endeavor of public education. We encourage parents to exercise their lawful rights; we are firmly against organizations demanding taxpayer-funded facilitation of parent choice.

Talk to your local school board, submit the policy to them, the superintendent, and to your district’s policy review committee. Speak up to your state representatives. Urge them to seriously consider the threat of dismantling public schools by the orchestrated disruption of RTRI Programs; especially those designed to cause dissension among student peers, families, and our communities.

Download a PDF of The Model Policy

The flagship Lifewise Academy program in Van Wert, OH, and the two programs launched in 2019 all followed the same model of removing students from school during the “specials” class rotations. Schools generally offer phys ed, music, art, library, and technology on a rotating basis for students. These class times are also used by primary classroom teachers for planning. This time is normally mandated by state law or teacher contracts on a per-district basis.

Lifewise Academy coordinated with School Ministries when launching its early programs. School Ministries is a national RTRI organization that has operated since 1991.

School Ministries CEO Ken Breivik has repeated the model of integrating religious classes into the “specials” periods and “draining” all of the students from the school. Breivik said they often target low-income school districts and offer a way to save money and give schools time for teacher planning periods while the students leave the school. This scheduling method will normally guarantee that almost all students attend the religious class, as it makes the alternative a quiet or self-study period for those students who do not leave school.

This method sounds great to parents if their religious beliefs align with Lifewise Academy’s theology and statement of faith. If they don’t, their children’s education in the public school is now affected solely because of their choice of religious freedom. This goes against everything the First Amendment stands for.

Side note: The school district featured in the video is the Clarendon County School District in SC. The district advertises the RTRI program on the school’s website. This also violates the Supreme Court ruling on RTRI.

This can be seen in the real world through public record requests from several school districts. Riverview Schools (Warsaw, OH) moved multiple classrooms of students who didn’t attend Lifewise into an “extra” tech program where they worked on laptops. This allowed the district to maximize teacher planning time without hiring additional staff.

The superintendent of Riverview schools said in a chat that the school benefited more from Lifewise than Lifewise did from the school. This is an odd statement, given Lifewise’s goal of removing every student from the public school system for Bible study, whereas public schools’ goal is to educate students. I would say this partnership benefited Lifewise more than the school. Read the principal’s take on why they allowed Lifewise to integrate into the schedule below. Hearing School Ministries speak about districts with

This same process of using a religious ministry to prop up a school’s schedule and allow for teacher planning time was also implemented in Defiance City Schools (Ohio). Lifewise boasts that nearly all students attend the religious program, rather than being shuffled between classes and rooms and treated as “leftovers.” This is exactly what Lifewise Academy and School Ministries want. Students feel they have no choice but to attend a religious service.

It is no coincidence that schools operate in the exact manner described by the released-time organizations. Public schools are the mission field for Lifewise and similar organizations, and these schools have been assisting them at the expense of taxpayers and students who don’t attend the religious classes.

Lifewise Academy and School Ministries have both taken the initiative to integrate Bible education into the school day schedule. They have focused on underfunded and lower-income school districts. They brag about the high percentage of students who attend the religious program that has become a regular part of the school day. RTRI programs are not just a choice for parents and their children. They are a tool of churches whose goal is to convert every child to their religion. They will use any method they are allowed and will push every legal guardrail.

Speak to your local board of education and school administration and inform them of these groups and their business model.

Find your school at https://respectpublicschools.com/

Sources:
Full Video School Ministries - YouTube
Full Video School Ministries - School Ministries Trumbull County, Ohio

On April 15, 2026, Governor Mike DeWine announced a new attendance dashboard to allow the public to watch the state’s dismantling of the public schools in real time. The Ohio Department of Education and Workforce (ODEW) defines 72 hours of unexcused absences per year as habitual absence. But the law allows 2 hours a week for 36 weeks to be missed for religious classes. That’s 72 hours. ODEW says that missing 72 hours makes a student habitually absent, but the legislature also requires schools to adopt policies to allow this. I can’t even find the words to explain how idiotic this is.

Released time religious instruction programs like Lifewise Academy have removed students from an estimated 1 million classroom hours of instruction over the last school year alone. There are an estimated 40,000 students in Lifewise in Ohio. Enrollment doubles during instructional time compared with lunch and recess, and 45% of Lifewise programs remove students from instructional periods. That’s 27,000 students missing an hour a week for a minimum of 36 weeks a year.

The actual number of students affected cannot be determined. Schools often place students who do not attend the religious class in a study hall or non-instructional classes. When many students leave during this time, instruction cannot proceed uniformly because they are dispersed across various parts of the curriculum. Although this precise instructional impact is difficult to quantify, it still exists. This is not a problem schools should be forced to handle.

If you think this sounds crazy, read the real-world program examples Lifewise Academy provides to schools in their “Superintendent Packet.” Van Wert Elementary School (Ohio) states, “At Van Wert Elementary, LifeWise is part of the weekly specials rotation. Students who don’t attend engage in independent study (e.g., book reading, computer work, etc.).” Children in 1st grade are being left to independent study. Again, instruction has to be put on hold in the classroom so students are not in different parts of the curriculum.

Over the last two years, Ohio shifted from requiring parental involvement in religious education to mandating that schools collaborate with churches, and ultimately to permitting students to miss unlimited time for religious classes. During this period, the state also funded private schools at unprecedented levels, claiming to provide better options for students. An administration that acts as if attendance is important while creating a blueprint to reduce it should be questioned.

Riverview schools were featured in a promotional video by Lifewise and set the stage for all future programs. Releasing students during class time, making students who don’t attend feel left out, and having no structured educational time for them. Students in grades kindergarten through 3rd would normally not be given completely unstructured screen time.

Riverview school staff stated that students who stayed in school and did not attend the Lifewise program had no structured period and no assignments. The school stated they would “play” on computers. The school stopped instruction for students not enrolled in Lifewise. In addition, the school decided who could attend a religious class based on its own criteria.

All of this is important because the laws regulating RTRI programs require schools to “do no more than release students whose parents so request.” “There shall be no comment by any principal or teacher on attendance or nonattendance of any pupil upon religious instruction,” is also a rule in the Court’s decision. The principal of the school advised staff to “suspend” a student from a religious class their parent had signed them up for.

The school district has created an environment in which students who don’t attend a religious class receive no instructional time. Parents who choose not to enroll their child in Lifewise are still impacted by the program. And parents who sign their children up for a religious class will have the school impose its own requirements for the child to attend. School administration uses a family’s choice to have their child attend a religious program as an incentive for good behavior. All of these are violations of an individual’s freedom of religion.

The more intertwined public schools are with religious programs like Lifewise Academy, the more they impact all students and parents, even those who did not choose to participate in religious education. If Lifewise Academy is operating in or approaching your district, contact your Board of Education and Administration and ensure they understand that it must be neutral and not negatively impact the school day for students who do not participate.

View the RTRI Map and learn more about Lifewise at https://respectpublicschools.com

Southwest Licking Board of Education Meeting Transcript December 19, 2024

Debra Moore:
Did we get copies of the background checks.

Unknown:
I did not get copies of background checks.

Debra Moore:
Can we get those copies?

Unknown:
I’m absolutely sure we could, yes.

Debra Moore:
And the MOU? Do we have a copy of that?

Unknown:
Mm-hmm.

Debra Moore:
I think maybe in May when we do have this talk, I think I’d like to add on top of the background checks, maybe rap-back. Is it in the MOU that if they do have new volunteers, those volunteers are background checked?

Unknown:
I believe so, but I need to double check. I don’t want to misspeak. I believe so, yes.

Full video on YouTube - timestamps for clips are 11:00 and 13:15

The district stated there was an MOU at a board meeting, but it has not been able to provide it. When asked, the treasurer indicated that Lifewise never signed an MOU.

The school district policy requires a signed MOU with Lifewise. The board meeting on December 19, 2024, indicates that an MOU is in place. The local Lifewise Director, Sonya Dulaney, was present at the meeting. Lifewise Academy was aware of these requirements. During the Lifewise discussion, the board asked Sonya a question. The blatant disregard for the school district’s policies is clear.

Lifewise Academy has a single set of laws, regulations, and policies to follow. They claim to be “keenly aware” of the law. They are not. They do not train their thousands of staff and volunteers on the legal parameters they must follow, just to increase enrollment and funding.

1. The program is off school property.

2. The program is privately funded.

3. The parents give permission for their children to attend.

Lifewise does not mention the rest of the court’s opinion.

1. The school district must remain neutral to the RTRI program.

2. No announcements of any kind in the school related to the RTRI program.

3. The school dismissed students one hour early, at the end of the day, to attend an RTRI program.

The Supreme Court felt so strongly against coercing students to attend a religious period that it stated, “if it were established that any one or more teachers were using their office to persuade or force students to take the religious instruction, a wholly different case would be presented.” The Court ruled that if the school used any means to coerce students into attending the religious period, a new case would need to be brought before the courts.

Understanding the facts of the case is important for determining whether other programs claiming to be legal under Zorach are sufficiently similar to fall under the same ruling.

The school district in the Zorach case did not decide whether students could attend based on criteria like behavior, grades, or schedule. The school did not publicize the program or establish rules for hiring program staff. The Supreme Court agreed that the school authorities “do no more than release students whose parents so request.”

Southwest Licking School District (Pataskala, Ohio) adjusted schedules, prepared lunches for off-site consumption, and helped enroll students to support Lifewise Academy. The Southwest Licking Public School System has become a key partner of Lifewise Academy.

Lifewise Academy gives flyers and information to school districts that says

“We Keep It Legal. LifeWise Academy is keenly aware of the necessity to keep public and religious institutions separate. We diligently adhere to relevant laws and policies, namely, the maintenance of a program that is: privately funded, off school property, and parent-permitted.”

That statement is 100% false. Lifewise does not adhere to all laws and policies.

The Lifewise handbooks, manuals, and training materials do not instruct staff on the neutrality requirements of the Supreme Court rulings, state laws, or school policies. School districts that rely on Lifewise Academy to police itself and maintain the program’s legality are creating a situation in which they could be held liable for violating state law and the school’s own policies.

Southwest Licking has failed to comply with the Supreme Court’s no-coercion requirements and its own policies. School Board Policy JEFB states that Lifewise and the district must sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). The MOU requires the RTRI program to comply with all laws and policies. As of now, the district has not signed an MOU with Lifewise. The policy also mandates that the RTRI program conduct background checks on all personnel to match the district’s standards. To date, the district has not verified if Lifewise has met this requirement. Parents should assume policies are followed, but in this case, policies designed to protect student safety have been ignored.

Southwest Licking Board of Education Meeting Transcript December 19, 2024

Debra Moore:
Did we get copies of the background checks.

Unknown:
I did not get copies of background checks.

Debra Moore:
Can we get those copies?

Unknown:
I’m absolutely sure we could, yes.

Debra Moore:
And the MOU? Do we have a copy of that?

Unknown:
Mm-hmm.

Debra Moore:
I think maybe in May when we do have this talk, I think I’d like to add on top of the background checks, maybe rap-back. Is it in the MOU that if they do have new volunteers, those volunteers are background checked?

Unknown:
I believe so, but I need to double check. I don’t want to misspeak. I believe so, yes.

Full video on YouTube - timestamps for clips are 11:00 and 13:15

The district stated there was an MOU at a board meeting, but it has not been able to provide it. When asked, the treasurer indicated that no MOU was ever created and agreed upon by the district and Lifewise.

Lifewise is not “keenly” aware of the laws and policies and tries to convince schools that as long as the program is 1. Off school property, 2. Parent-permitted, and 3. Privately funded, it is 100% legal. Lifewise chooses to ignore many laws and policies that help them use public schools as their mission field.

Please hold your school board accountable and protect the time public schools have been given to educate students. Report violations to the Freedom from Religion Foundation at https://ffrf.org/legal/report-church-state/

Registration for release time programs must occur off school premises, and must be done on forms and supplies furnished by the group or institution offering the program. Teachers of release time programs are not to be considered members of any public school faculty and should not be asked to participate as faculty members in any school functions or to assume responsibilities for operation of any part of the public school program.

IDAPA 08.02.02-220-09 (page 38)

The Melba School District Policy 2350 states:

Staff members are representatives of the District and must “navigate the narrow channel between impairing intellectual inquiry and propagating a religious creed.” They may not encourage, discourage, persuade, dissuade, sponsor, participate in, or discriminate against a religious activity or an activity because of its religious content. They must remain officially neutral toward religious expression.

Melba School District Policy 2350

The physical education teacher at Melba Elementary School, Brock Jessup, organized the effort to introduce the RTRI program at his school. This action violates both school policy and Idaho state law. Jessup managed the sign-up process through school communications, sending and receiving sign-up forms on school property. The emails below demonstrate how this process was handled at the school.

School faculty are running the program and signing up students on school property, which is against state law and school policy.

Jessup Uses Students to Increase Religious Enrollment

On a Bible2School podcast, Jessup mentioned that students were used for distributing items to their classmates at school. This is the most common form of recruitment for RTRI programs. Jessup’s comments:

teachers were very supportive of the program at the school that I’m at. And just this week, again, it was our last week, so we sent them home with all the really cool trinkets. And just the week prior, we did the Jonah and the Whale story.

So there was a buzz going on. And this week we sent them home with their Bibles and with their salvation bracelets. And teachers just come up to me and say, man, the kids were just, they couldn’t wait to share all their little goodies that they got.

And other kids are seeing it and thinking to themselves that they would like to do it too.

Bible2School Podcast Episode 149

The Melba School District Policy prohibits this behavior with policy 3250.

Students should not be exploited for the benefit of any individual, group, or profit-making organization.

Melba School District Policy 3250

The school district faculty has facilitated enrollment in a religious program. They have conducted this using school resources. They have enabled young children to be the marketing engine for a religious organization. Public schools are not mission fields and should not be open to churches during compulsory attendance time.

If you see violations like these, please report them to the Freedom from Religion Foundation.

Lifewise will frame these changes in law as a parental rights issue, but parents have always been able to submit a request to the school and sign their children out for religious instruction. This will not impact attendance or truancy. The Supreme Court ruled on this in 1948 and 1952. The changes Lifewise is implementing force public schools to cooperate with Lifewise, adjust schedules, and assist in releasing students. Release time religious instruction is not a right, and forcing school districts to facilitate release time programs violates the legal authority of public schools.

Attorney Matt Krause, from First Liberty Institute, testified at a hearing on release time legislation in Ohio that release time is not a right. First Liberty is a legal representative for Lifewise and also serves as counsel in the current lawsuit Lifewise has filed against the public schools in Everett, Washington.

The Secular Education Association has created an extensive video that shows all the ways Lifewise has worked to persuade the government to pass laws in its favor. Take the time to watch or at least listen to it. They also have a bill tracker to see the status of legislation across the country.

View the Lifewise Academy map and read more at https://respectpublicschools.com/

According to the school sign-in/out record, this occurred on December 17, 2025, at approximately 11:00 AM. They wouldn't sign out for 2 hours and 45 minutes, until 2:17 PM. Two days earlier, the Lifewise teacher and director were on school property for 3 and 4 hours, respectively.

The principal invited Lifewise to setup in the school and passout gifts.

Zorach vs Clauson (1952) states, "no announcement of any kind will be made in the public schools relative to the program [rule 1]." The Supreme Court's ruling is clear the school must remain neutral with regard to release time programs. Setting up in front of the school office is not remaining neutral.

The full public records request is in the PDF below.

Tri-County Public Records Request

977KB ∙ PDF file

Download

Download

Newton Motion for Lifewise

209KB ∙ PDF file

Download

Full scan of motion to suspend a school board policy for Lifewise Academy.

Download

The reason for Lifewise moving onto school property is not 100% clear, and requests to Lifewise asking have gone unanswered. Respect Public Schools was told there was a fire code or building inspection issue at the location where classes were being held. The classes were previously held at The Chouse, a local event space. Social media posts confirm this, and it appears the classes are back at this same location. With no report of what the building issue was.

The Newton Local School Board met on March, 24, 2025, and filed a motion to temporarily override the school board policy 7510 “USE OF DISTRICT PREMISES.” This motion did not reference the Ohio statute 3313.6022, which states,

“(A) As used in this section, "released time" means 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.”

A local Board of Education cannot override state law. But Lifewise has emboldened school staff and administration with the idea that anything is allowed, so long as it supports their religious beliefs. Under no circumstances should a school board pass a motion that goes against federal Supreme Court case law and Ohio statutes.

Lifewise Academy’s Comedy Act “OFF SCHOOL PROPERTY”

Read more and view the Lifewise Academy map at https://respectpublicschools.com/

On January 14, 2022, Pennington and the Lifewise steering committee continued applying pressure to the district, requesting information, class schedules, and policy updates.

Pennington Is Appointed to the School Board

All this planning reached a turning point when a school board member resigned, and the board needed to select a replacement. Jeremie Pennington applied for the position and was hired on March 14, 2022. The following week, Pennington told a local news outlet that the school district would allow Lifewise to rent space on school property. “That is a huge savings for us,” Pennington said, indicating it would save money by renting space at the school. Pennington also said that the district met with attorneys to confirm it was “OK” to have the religious program on school property during the school day.

Pennington further stated that the district would send letters to students about Lifewise starting in the fall. He also mentioned that the board of education would vote next month to approve the released time policy, officially allowing Lifewise to operate in the district. Pennington said he was stepping away from the Lifewise committee to remove the conflict of interest. This was after the board had already agreed to pass the policy, send flyers to students, and rent a room to Lifewise.

This represented a blatant disregard for Ohio laws, Ohio Attorney General opinions, Federal Supreme Court cases, and the local school board policy.

For reference, here is a brief list of the legal reasons Elmwood is incorrect in permitting Lifewise on school property.

Ohio Attorney General Opinion 1988-001

“I shall consider first the question whether a board of education may, as a general matter, formulate and implement a policy that permits high school students to be excused from attendance during regular school hours for the purpose of receiving religious instruction off school property.”

Ohio Attorney General Opinion 2019-015

“You have requested an opinion about the implementation of a school district’s policy permitting students to be released from school to attend a course in religious instruction that is conducted by a private entity off school property.”

Ohio Revised Code 3313.6022 (A)

(A) As used in this section, "released time" means 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.

Zorach vs. Clauson (1952)

“so that they may leave the school buildings and grounds and go to religious centers for religious instruction or”

Elmwood Board Policy 5223

Students shall be provided "released time" during the school day to attend a course in religious instruction conducted by a private sponsoring entity that is provided off of District property.

Elmwood Local School District and Lifewise Academy established, from the outset, a lack of limits on coercion and integration, shaping how Lifewise would be promoted, favored, and prioritized over school staff and educational programs in favor of a religious Bible program.

Before Lifewise classes began, the school district provided a phone extension within the district-wide phone system and set up computers and printers. The district also added Lifewise staff to the district email service and included them in the Elmwood Staff email group.

In May 2022, a staff member asked Superintendent Borton which room they could use. Borton suggested that they look around the main building or share space with Health or Lifewise. Borton admitted there wouldn’t be much available for the staff member.

One year later, in May 2023, Borton responded to Lifewise Academy’s inquiry about renting a different room at the school district’s other building. Borton told Lifewise that a room would be available, giving them their own dedicated space. He also asked Lifewise twice to meet to view a possible new room they could rent and offered them furniture.

The contrast between the two interactions with Borton is striking. When a district-employed teacher asks for a room, Borton suggests they look around for an open space, possibly one they can share. When Lifewise asks about a room, they are offered a dedicated space and furniture.

This is in direct contradiction to the Elmwood Local School Board Policy “7510 - USE OF DISTRICT PREMISES AND MOTORIZED EQUIPMENT.”

This policy provides guidelines for community organizations using the school’s property. Read the full policy, but the sections related to what Lifewise is doing are,

“The Board of Education believes that the school premises should be made available for community purposes, provided that such use does not infringe on the original and necessary purpose of the property or interfere with the educational program of the schools.”

“D. community organizations or groups of individuals primarily comprised of District residents/members of the community, including students (during non-school hours) and employees (when not working in the scope of their employment) formed or gathered for charitable, civic, social, religious, recreational (e.g., indoor or outdoor games or physical activities, either organized or unorganized, that are undertaken for exercise, relaxation, diversion, sport, or pleasure), and/or educational purposes, provided such meetings and/or entertainment is nonexclusive and open to the general public.”

There is no excuse for the School Board or the Superintendent to ignore school policies and allow a released-time religious instruction program to operate on school property. Two school board policies clearly state that religious organizations must operate off school property during the school day, or during “non-school hours” if on school property. The school administration claims they consulted with their attorneys, but I doubt any attorney would have advised them to violate their own policies or state and federal laws.

Elmwood Teachers Promoting Lifewise in The School

In October 2023, Borton discussed a “Lifewise posting” with three staff members. Borton said the conversation is not disciplinary for now, and he hopes there will be no “legal action” resulting from it. He followed up those discussions with an email that included a letter.

“As a follow up to our meeting, LifeWise is allowed to take the students during the day if parents have signed up for this (Policy 5223-Released Time for Religious Instruction). Staff members should not encourage or discourage students and families from signing up for this outside activity that takes place during the school day. We must stay neutral. Staff members should not do anything that would encourage or show favoritism to religion, including wearing Life Wise clothing during the day.

By following these steps, we can remain neutral on the concept of Released Time for Religious Instruction.”

Tony Borton, Elmwood Local Schools Superintendent

Superintendent Borton was either advised or already aware that the school was violating neutrality requirements related to Lifewise Academy’s operation. These issues involved more than Lifewise; Borton also instructed staff not to promote before- or after-school programs like FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes). On the same day as the Lifewise disciplinary event, Borton directed staff not to promote FCA in the morning announcements and reminded them that FCA is to be student-led, not teacher-led.

This email about FCA shows that teachers were trying to arrange substitutes so they could attend an FCA event. Read that again. School staff were requesting substitutes so they could attend a religious service on school property during the school day.

Lifewise Improves Academic Performance

The Elmwood teachers who advertised Lifewise claimed the program would improve the academic performance of students. This is the lie that won’t die from Lifewise. They claim a study they paid for supports this. It does not. The study said it was a “theory” that the academic performance would improve. Elmwood allowed students to miss Library to attend Lifewise. They also impacted speech and other therapy sessions. Here are emails stating this.

Here are the English/Language Arts scores for Elmwood Elementary students from the Ohio Student Recovery Dashboard. A 5% drop from 2022 to 2025. (Lifewise started in 2022) Is this caused by removing students from Library, speech, and other interventions? If scores in those areas were going down, I can’t imagine any educator would agree to remove students from instructional time focused on those areas. But Elmwood did.

Supreme Court Rulings

Lifewise Academy repeatedly insists that the Supreme Court case Zorach v. Clauson (1952) grants them the right to operate legally. While Zorach held that released time was legal, it also established many guidelines for how these programs can function. The most important, in my opinion — and the one Elmwood is repeatedly getting wrong — is the neutrality ruling of the case. The court’s opinion states that schools should remain neutral and not coerce or persuade students. The school should simply release students and neither support nor endorse the program, nor oppose it.

“The present record indeed tells us that the school authorities are neutral in this regard, and do no more than release students whose parents so request. If, in fact, coercion were used, if it were established that any one or more teachers were using their office to persuade or force students to take the religious instruction, a wholly different case would be presented.”

Zorach v. Clauson (1952)

Teachers have persuaded students. School administration has done much more than just create a policy to release students at a parent’s request. The school has provided facilities, logistical support, advertising, marketing, and numerous other resources, all made available by the publicly funded school system.

“Here not only are the State’s tax-supported public school buildings used for the dissemination of religious doctrines. The State also affords sectarian groups an invaluable aid in that it helps to provide pupils for their religious classes through use of the State’s compulsory public school machinery. This is not separation of Church and State.”

McCollum v. Board of Education (1948)

McCollum ruled that religious instruction cannot occur on public school property during school hours. The Elmwood school board policies reflect this legal ruling, and Ohio state law also supports it. The Ohio Attorney General has issued multiple opinions backing this. Despite that, Elmwood continues to violate all of these rules. The Elmwood school administration has reprimanded staff for actions they are also guilty of.

Who will hold them accountable?

Lifewise Academy, in the Patrick Henry Local Schools, uses a spreadsheet in Google Drive to track enrollment and share attendance information with the school. These documents for the 2024-25 and 2025-26 school years have contained student name, teacher’s name, medical, IEP, and allergy information. At the request of a Lifewise local board member who is also a Patrick Henry teacher, the spreadsheet was made available to anyone with the link. See the email below.

This same scenario occurred in the Elmwood School District (Bloomdale, Ohio). The forms that parents had filled out were shared in a spreadsheet, which was made public via the link. This document contains contact info and private information for over 100 families.

Lifewise Academy has 1,750 employees and 10,000 volunteers, according to CEO Joel Penton in a September 2025 interview. That creates a very wide scope for potential problems. This demonstrates how easily this mistake could happen. I am not familiar with the organization’s hierarchy, from corporate staff to classroom volunteers, but if a board member asks, someone will respond. Training staff and volunteers on all these security issues is a monumental challenge. Fortunately, Google offers tools to prevent such issues, but it’s clear Lifewise has not put them in place.

The Lifewise enrollment forms ask for personal information and allow parents to authorize the school to share any data it deems appropriate with Lifewise.

Technical Details

The security setting “anyone with the link” means the file is accessible to anyone on the internet who knows the URL. This seems secure initially. Lifewise and the school shared the link with a few dozen teachers and staff members who need it. However, the reality of data security on the internet is more complicated. All private information should be protected with authentication and be auditable. Once a file is set to “anyone,” there’s no way to know who is accessing it.

Here is a short list of common ways data can be

• If an email account is compromised through a phishing attack, password list, or any other method, the file will be exposed. Millions of email accounts are compromised daily.

• Staff could accidentally or on purpose email the link to the wrong people. With no authentication required, anyone could access it.

• Individuals with access may be fired or leave, but they could still access the file via the link.

• Clicking the link could log the URL on every network or server device through which the data passes. Any number of people could attempt to access it, and with no authentication required, they would see the information.

• Google, Bing, and all other search engines could index the file and make it available, increasing people's ability to see it.

• The security issue was found through a public records request, which anyone can do. It is not uncommon.

This isn’t an exhaustive list of how the data could be compromised, but it's the most common ways.

It is disappointing that Lifewise has not commented on the online exposure of students' private information. Using Google Drive links appears to be Lifewise's preferred method for sharing enrollment lists with schools.

Lifewise has plans to expand to 10% of schools by 2030. This would be a 10-fold increase from their current size. Potentially requiring the management of over half a million students’ records by a company with very relaxed security protocols for data privacy.

Here are more emails showing Lifewise using shared Google Drive spreadsheets to distribute data to the schools.

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See the Lifewise map and find your district at https://respectpublicschools.com/