A Christian group teaches public school students during school hours. Your footprint is growing

INDIANAPOLIS – An Ohio nonprofit that offers off-site Bible instruction to public school students during class time says it will triple its programs in Indiana this fall after new legislation forced school districts to comply.

For participating families, LifeWise Academy’s nondenominational programs complement religious instruction. But critics in Indiana worry that the programs will spend public school resources on religion, proselytize students of other faiths and remove children from classes in one state. already struggling with literacy.

LifeWise founder and CEO Joel Penton told the Associated Press that many parents want religious instruction to be part of their children’s education.

“The values ​​of faith and the Bible are absolutely fundamental for many families,” Penton said. “And so they want to demonstrate to their children that this is fundamental to their lives.”

Public schools cannot promote any religion under the First Amendment, but one 1952 Supreme Court ruling Centered in New York schools paved the way for programs like LifeWise. Individual houses of worship often work with schools to host off-campus programs and are unregulated in some states.

LifeWise officials have addressed the Oklahoma and Ohio legislatures in support of laws that would require schools to cooperate with outside religious programs, Penton said, and Oklahoma’s Republican governor signed one of those bills into law on Wednesday.

Similar bills have been introduced in Ohio, Nebraska, Georgia and Mississippi this year, according to an AP analysis of Plural, a legislative tracking database.

LifeWise programs will be available in more than 520 locations in 23 states next school year, up from 331 in 13 states this year, and about 31,000 students attend LifeWise programs in the U.S., Penton said.

Penton wants LifeWise to be available to “50 million public school students across the country,” he said.

In Indiana, Republican state Rep. Kendell Culp introduced legislation requiring principals to allow students to attend religious education in their spare time after a rural school stopped cooperating with LifeWise. The bill was signed into law in March, and subsequently 45 Indiana schools will work with the company this fall, triple the number from last year.

LifeWise Academy, based in Hilliard, Ohio, is funded by donors, including more than $13 million in contributions from July 2022 to June 2023, according to its latest federal filing.

The curriculum was developed in conjunction with the Gospel Project, a biblical study plan produced by an entity from the Southern Baptist Convention, Penton said. Instructors receive guidance on how to answer difficult questions, including about the afterlife and sex. LifeWise opposes same-sex marriage, as well as transgender and gender-fluid identities.

“Our guide helps classroom educators approach these issues with compassion, humility and respect,” Penton said in a statement.

Chris Paulsen, CEO of the LGBTQ+ advocacy group Indiana Youth Group, expressed concern that children can receive Christian religious instruction during the school day, “even though no one can talk about queer families.” Indiana bans teaching “human sexuality” in schools until third grade.

LifeWise staff and volunteers may bus or drive students from school to program sites, or use spaces near schools and supervise children walking there.

Indiana law and a 1952 Supreme Court decision say no public money can be spent on supplemental religious education, but critics worry that schools will spend public resources on programming and transporting children to programs.

“It just puts another burden on teachers,” said Michelle Carrera, a high school English teacher in the Culp district.

Democratic lawmakers ridiculed the new law as literacy and attendance rates fell and said it violates the separation of church and state guaranteed in the First Amendment.

“To say that a religious organization can require a school schedule seems to me to be a fundamental violation of this important American principle,” said Indiana House Education Committee member Ed DeLaney, a Democrat.

Jennifer Matthias of the Fort Wayne Community Schools board of directors opposes a new program in her district, especially since recent Republican-led legislation establishes stricter literacy requirements for elementary school students.

“How can removing students from the academic day benefit them?” she said.

Proponents argue that the LifeWise model allows low-income students who cannot afford extracurricular programs to receive supplemental religious instruction. Culp said Indiana law gives parents more influence over their children’s education.

“This is really more about parental rights,” he said.

Christa Sullinger, 46, started sending her 10-year-old son to LifeWise in Garrett, Indiana, last year. With baseball activities on Sundays, the family sometimes misses church, and LifeWise fills in the gaps.

“What a great way to solidify our faith,” Sullinger said.

LifeWise says it does not teach programs during classes, such as math or reading, but rather during lunch, recess or electives, including library, art or gymnastics. Children can attend up to two hours per week under Indiana law.

West Central School Corporation in rural Pulaski County, about 100 miles north of Indianapolis, said 64 percent of its 345 elementary students attended LifeWise during the library last school year.

West Central School Corporation Superintendent Cathy Rowe said there may be students who feel left out if they don’t attend LifeWise, but that’s up to the parents.

“It’s been very well supported in our community,” she said.

The district was often at the center of discussion during the passage of the Indiana bill. Opponents said that if only a handful of children remain in school, they may feel pressured to join or alienated if they are. religiously unaffiliated or practice another faith.

Some children promote the program to their peers willingly, Penton said.

“We are grateful when students find joy in our program and spread the word,” he said.

Demrie Alonzo, an English as a second language teacher in Fredericktown, Ohio, said she saw a LifeWise representative tell one of her third-grade students, who is Hindu, that they could teach her about Jesus. An investigation ensued, resulting in School Superintendent Gary Chapman reminding the Fredericktown Local School District and LifeWise officials to refrain from soliciting student participation during school hours.

Children from “a variety of backgrounds” participate, Penton said.

“I thought it was extremely inappropriate,” Alonzo said.

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Associated Press researcher Rhonda Shafner contributed from New York.