COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- The Ohio Senate proposed requiring school districts to allow organizations like LifeWise to send trinkets, candy and other materials with students when they return to school.
The Ohio Senate adjusted Ohio's release time for religious instruction law in its recently released draft of the state budget. Under the Senate's changes, public districts would have to allow RTRI organizations to send materials back with students and permit instruction on a near-weekly basis.
RTRI refers to legal religious instruction that occurs during the school day, off school property and with parental permission. Ohio's RTRI law recently changed; as of April 9, all public school districts have to allow religious release time, although districts have a lot of freedom in what those policies look like. If the budget passes in its current form, public districts like Columbus City Schools will have to adjust its policies.
The Senate budget says districts must allow a minimum of 33 religious release lessons per school year and that schools' RTRI policies are not allowed to "prohibit students from bringing external educational and program materials into school." Several central Ohio schools have implemented policies prohibiting organizations from sending students back with trinkets, candy or materials to minimize disruptions.
When Ohio's biggest school district, Columbus City Schools, banned organizations from distributing materials to take back to school, LifeWise founder and CEO Joel Penton said not distributing materials would not affect how families choose to participate in LifeWise. In April, LifeWise initiated a lawsuit over policies like CCS's. See previous coverage of CCS's policy change in the video player above.
LifeWise, a Hilliard-based RTRI organization that has expanded biblical education nationwide, sued Ohio educational consultant firm Neola for its sample policies, which included an option ban on distributing materials. Using First Liberty Institute's legal team, LifeWise alleged Neola's sample RTRI policies violated the First Amendment.
Ohio State announces every student will use AI in classNeola senior advisor Patrick Corbett told NBC4 in April that Neola shared the policy with its hundreds of clients, all Ohio public school districts, that then chose which parts to include. LifeWise warned Neola that school districts that choose to adopt the policies it was challenging would open themselves up to lawsuits.
NBC4 reached out to LifeWise for comment on the Senate budget but was referred to Jeremy Dys, senior counsel at First Liberty, who represents LifeWise in its Neola case. Dys said since April, Neola has acknowledged the concerns and agreed to share them with their clients, although Neola client CCS's policy remains unchanged.
Dys said he is glad to see Ohio take a stand against those policies in the state budget.
"Ohio is to be commended for its commitment to accommodate the schedules of its students to give parents the opportunity to seek a program of outside religious instruction," Dys said.
The state budget draft also acknowledges RTRI organizations' concerns about districts limiting how often students can go to those programs.
These were the closest races in Ohio’s primary electionA school year in Ohio lasts around 36-40 weeks, with the state mandating 910 hours of instruction for K-6 grades and 1,001 for grades 7-12, with districts meeting those requirements on their own schedules. By requiring school districts to permit at least 33 RTRI sessions each year, the budget would ensure students can attend on a near-weekly basis.
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost warned school districts in April against stopping RTRI groups from distributing materials or severely limiting how frequently students can attend. He agreed that banning materials could constitute a First Amendment violation and that limiting meetings could be interpreted as not properly complying with the law.
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