Lifewise Academy - Willful Ignorance?
Lifewise Academy has a legal team that includes several local and national firms. These include Ashbrook Byrne Kresge Flowers LLC and First Liberty Institute. Lifewise’s ability to file lawsuits when circumstances do not align with their mission is quick and easy. When given scenarios where Lifewise is not following federal, state, or school board policy, their legal team will not repsond and local programs do not think the public is entitled to answers.
A quick rundown of issues. Lifewise lost a 7-year-old child who walked back to school by themselves without any intervention from Lifewise. Still no real answers. Lifewise was ready to open a program in a meeting room at a chemical factory. The factory had a registered sex offender who was employed. Questions about how this is allowed and how it would affect the individual's employment or status were never answered. Lifewise hosts a program on school property in the Elmwood Local School District (Bloomdale, OH), which is a clear violation of the law. Lifewise hosted classes in Newton Local School District’s athletic building, on school property. Again, a clear violation of the law. All of these have been brought to Lifewise, and no action or explanation has been given.
The local Tiffin, Ohio, director has stated that unless you have a student in the school district, they do not have an answer to questions. No one is asking personal or private questions. The public schools are funded by the community, and knowing how they operate is not private. The school district was required to create a policy to work with Lifewise. Previously, schools could choose not to coordinate with programs like Lifewise, but Lifewise lobbied the statehouse to change the law, forcing school districts to coordinate. Lifewise Tiffin has given presentations outside the school district, so speaking only to parents in Tiffin with students in Tiffin City Schools is not an issue.
The local program directors and teachers are trained by the support center staff at the Lifewise headquarters in Hilliard, OH. These trainings prepare local staff to start, operate, and maintain the programs. Everything from child safety, working with the schools, site logistics, and fundraising. I do not know how much legal or policy training is provided. Does the support center staff have a list of what is legally allowed and not? Do they adapt this to the specific state or district they are training for?
Emails from local Lifewise Directors to school staff have shed some light on this area. An email from the local director of the Tiffin, Ohio, chapter shows that Lifewise asked the school administration whether aides for students on IEPs will attend Lifewise with the students. This is a clear violation of the Ohio statute and local school policy.
“(5) No public funds are expended and no public school personnel are involved in providing the religious instruction.”
Ohio Revised Code 3313.6022
No public funds are expended and no public school personnel are involved in providing religious instruction.
Tiffin City Schools Policy - JEFB - Released Time for Religious Instruction
Lifewise has no problem asking the district to break the law. Which makes you wonder, does Lifewise know this is a violation? Do they know but just want to see how far they can push it? Does the support center know but then leaves the local staff in the dark, and if a violation occurs, it shields the support center?
Lifewise Academy in Tiffin asked the school to send aides to Lifewise. This violates federal, state law, and local school policy. This also means Lifewise is asking school employees to be forced to attend a fundamentalist Christian bible study class with a curriculum from the Southern Baptist Convention. Assuming school staff would be comfortable attending this program shows a high level of entitlement from within the Lifewise Academy organization. This coincides with the message Lifewise uses that they own the government and schools.
A Christian ministry that lobbied the statehouse to force every school district in the state to work with them has issues when asked by those community members how the program operates. Read that again. This is insanity and the public schools are the marketing machine for this organization.
Read more and check the status of Lifewise in your school district at https://respectpublicschools.com/
The author of this blog is likely in favor of choice except when it's the choice of parents to allow their children to receive religious instruction. When children attend public school, they don't suddenly become "wards of the state". Parents are still in charge of their children and that right must be protected.
Elementary school children are released one day a week for one block of 45-60 minutes during a non-core class time. It's absolutely laughable that Respect Public Schools claims it interferes with instruction time. Our children attended public schools and the final 2-3 WEEKS were a complete waste of time. Furthermore, take a look at reading and math proficiency in US public schools. It's despicable that so much money is spent with such poor outcomes.