Riverview School District Infringes on Families’ Religious Freedom
The school places students in an “extra” class and lets them “play” on computers while other students attend a Bible program. Lifewise impacts all students, even those who don't attend.
Riverview School District (Warsaw, OH) in eastern Ohio was the second Lifewise Academy program ever. Lifewise Academy is a release time religious instruction (RTRI) program that removes students from school during the school day for Bible study. Lifewise states this is legal if the Bible study is off school property, approved by the parent, and privately funded. Lifewise cites the Supreme Court case Zorach v. Clauson (1952) and takes these bullet points from it. Lifewise omits the court case’s neutrality requirements. The schools must remain neutral, classes must continue as normal, and schools must not coerce students into attending the religious class.
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