Part 3 of a limited series about Ohio-based LifeWise Academy

TOLEDO – Recent changes to Ohio law mean all public school districts are now required to adopt policies governing religious release time (RTRI), setting the stage for battles over the language of these policies across the state.

The leaders of LifeWise Academy, the Ohio-based nonprofit pushing for Bible classes during public school hours, were major proponents of the legislation and are upfront about their goal to reach every district in the country with their programming.

LifeWise offers curriculum, coaching and other resources while local congregations provide financial support, classroom space and volunteers to help run programs. According to a state-of-the-ministry update in February, the program is live in more than 514 schools nationwide and serves more than 41,000 students. Adding the number of schools that are “confirmed” to launch next year, representatives estimated the program will soon be in 834 schools.

The legality of this arrangement is supported by a 1952 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that said students can be released from public school during school hours to attend religious classes. The Supreme Court stipulated that programs must meet off school property, be privately funded and can only be offered with parental permission. 

Representatives from LifeWise were on hand to lobby for their cause at a December meeting of the National Association of Christian Lawmakers (NACL) in Scottsdale, Ariz. Founded in 2020, the group “is dedicated to uniting federal, state and local lawmakers in support of clear biblical principles,” and has members from all 50 states and Puerto Rico. 

Following a presentation by Cody Balch, senior director of statewide initiatives for LifeWise, NACL members voted in support of adopting a model bill that would mandate public school districts adopt policies allowing religious release time. Similar to legislation passed recently in Indiana and Ohio, Balch cited the conservative Alliance Defending Freedom and First Liberty Institute as contributors to the bill. He referred legislators to the Released Time Resource Institute for more information. 

There is no contact information on this one-page website, but a note at the bottom says the Institute was created by LifeWise “and other like-minded nonprofits as a contribution to the broader released time community.” It includes a map depicting the status of states with RTRI laws and links to downloadable model legislation and model school board policies.

Meanwhile, some advocacy groups opposed to LifeWise have developed their own model RTRI policies to address concerns about LifeWise disrupting the public school day. 

Honesty for Ohio Education is a grassroots organization with a statewide coalition that includes state and local organizations, students, families, educators, legal professionals, healthcare providers, civic leaders and faith communities. Organizer Natalie Hastings said Honesty set up a working group to research LifeWise about a year ago after it came up as a common topic of concern in listening sessions with people around the state. The group includes an education law professor, current and past school board members and other partners from the coalition.

Last summer, the group produced an RTRI toolkit that included a model policy with suggested “guardrails” to protect students, such as mandated background checks, lunch guidelines, anti-harassment and anti-bullying policies and transportation standards.

The model policy is a starting point for discussion of “reasonable things” to consider in RTRI policies, which Hastings noted would govern any religious group seeking to remove students during the school day, not only LifeWise.

Before this year, the Ohio Revised Code said public school districts “may” develop a policy governing religious release time programs. In January, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signed House Bill 8 into law, which changed that wording to say that districts “shall” adopt such a policy. 

This means districts without an RTRI policy must adopt one by the time the law goes into effect on April 9. Districts that do not yet have such a policy will most likely be developing these in February so they can have a second reading and vote in March to meet the April deadline. “Over the next month will be a good reflection of what school districts end up incorporating from different policy suggestions,” said Hastings.

Districts prepare to comply with new law

As LifeWise programs have proliferated, some districts in Ohio previously responded by rescinding or choosing not to adopt RTRI policies. Last March, the Sylvania Board of Education opted not to develop such a policy after listening to a proposal for a Sylvania Schools LifeWise program. Board members cited concerns about liability, disruptions to the school day and opening the door to other programs requesting excused absences. They suggested it would be more appropriate to offer the program after school.

Dr. Veronica Motley, superintendent for Sylvania, wrote in an email to the Toledo Free Press that the Board of Education will move forward with formally adopting a policy to bring the district into compliance with the new law prior to the April deadline. There is a possibility of RTRI programs beginning prior to the end of the school year, she wrote, but depending on schedules and other logistics, they may not be implemented until next school year. 

Sylvania Board of Education president Julie Hoffman did not respond to requests for an interview or further comment. 

Another district that previously blocked LifeWise programming is Vermilion City Schools. The district serves about 1,700 students in pre-kindergarten through grade 12, and is located on the coast of Lake Erie, about 80 miles east of Toledo. 

David Hile, Vermilion superintendent, and Wes Weaver, the district’s assistant superintendent and director of curriculum, were among hundreds who testified last year in the Ohio House and Senate to oppose changing the language surrounding RTRI policies. The two administrators drew on their own experience interacting with representatives of LifeWise in Vermilion.

Hile said he made it clear from the beginning to the pastors who presented the idea to him in 2023 that he would not be in favor of a program that pulls students out during school hours.

“Since the pandemic, only about half of our kids are reading on grade level by the end of third grade. So we have kids that are significantly behind in reading and math,” said Hile. “We don’t have an hour to spare in the school day to just let kids go do religious instruction.”

Weaver recalls the initial meetings with local pastors as being cordial, and the administrators offered to work with LifeWise on setting up an after-school program.

LifeWise representatives attended several meetings of the Vermilion Board of Education, and board members listened to stakeholders on both sides of the issue for months before unanimously deciding not to move forward with adopting a district RTRI policy.

“They did exactly what you want local government to do,” said Hile. “They talked to everybody, they listened to everybody, and then they made a decision that represented what they felt like was best for the community.”

LifeWise representatives did not seem to accept that decision, according to Hile. Local supporters continued to contact the board and district administrators to advocate for the program, and they held a screening in December 2024 of a film promoted by LifeWise that claims to expose “the historical removal of the Bible from public education.”

Hile accuses LifeWise of being disingenuous in some of its claims, such as a flyer posted to social media that stated LifeWise Academy reduces the achievement gap by more than 50 percent. When he asked LifeWise for evidence of that, he received no proof to back up the claim. 

Hile said he studied the achievement gap as part of the dissertation for his doctorate. “First of all, there’s not just one achievement gap, there’s multiple. And it’s usually based on race and socioeconomic status,” he added.

“And nobody has found a way to reduce the achievement gap, virtually at all. If you come in two, three years behind in kindergarten, which is when the achievement gap begins, schools have an incredibly difficult time making up those lost years, because we’re only in school for a year at a time,” Hile noted.

Hile also said Buddy Workman, a LifeWise field representative for North Central Ohio, falsely claimed at a spaghetti dinner for Vermilion’s LifeWise program in 2023 that the superintendent had refused to meet with him. Emails show that Workman never requested a meeting with the superintendent prior to this event.

Hile expressed frustration with the mandate to adopt a religious release time policy, which he views as overriding local control. “That to me is anti-democratic,” he said. “Why have a local school board if we’re going to be told by the state about everything we have to do?”

He said Vermilion will come into compliance with the new law after the board and administrators review the recommendations recently released by Neola, an organization providing educational policy guidance to schools. Hile has told LifeWise organizers next school year is the earliest a religious release time program could start in Vermilion.

Promoting character education or Christian nationalism?

Hile and Weaver both associated the push for LifeWise programming with Christian nationalism in their testimonies and in comments to the Toledo Free Press.

“They want to infuse Christianity, or the notion of Christianity, into our public schools, and be able to say ‘Look, we brought the Bible back to our schools. We brought Christianity and religion back to our schools,’ ” said Hile. “The problem is, it’s not Christianity, in general. It’s a very specific viewpoint of Christianity. And it’s not inclusive.”

While LifeWise Academy is not affiliated with any one Christian denomination, its website says its teachings align with “historic, orthodox Christian beliefs.” The LifeWise curriculum is based on The Gospel Project, which comes from Lifeway Christian Resources, an entity of the Southern Baptist Convention. 

Critics of LifeWise say that its teachings discriminate against people who are divorced, unmarried and single parents, practitioners of non-Christian religions, and members of the LGBTQ+ community, including people who are transgender and couples in same-sex marriages. 

“The idea that it’s kind of nondenominational and kind of neutral among all religious points of view, that doesn’t bear scrutiny,” said Weaver.

Responding to the LifeWise talking point that the program brings needed character education into public schools, Weaver asserted that public schools have always been one of the two main sources of character education for kids, with home being the primary one. “It’s baked into everything that we do,” said Weaver.

“The truth is, you can look to religion or spirituality or your faith for that sort of thing. That doesn’t mean that’s the only source for that, and the idea that removing a child from school for an hour a week is going to make them turn out better in terms of their character — there’s no evidence to support that,” said Weaver.