The The Columbus Dispatch published this opinion from First Liberty attorney, Jeremy Dys, on May 5th.

https://www.dispatch.com/story/opinion/columns/guest/2025/05/05/lifewise-academy-ohio-schools-columbus/83390102007/

Today we submitted this rebuttal opinion to the Dispatch for publication.

“Lifewise has no constitutional right to use our public schools as a mission field (Opinion)

In Jeremy Dys’s letter to the editor, published May 5th, he claims school districts engaged in “angry disagreements and unfair characterizations” over what he called “a simple accommodation by school officials”. Dys omits that release-time for religious instruction (RTRI) originated as a limited, community-centered accommodation for minority faiths. That model bears little resemblance to LifeWise Academy—a national franchise whose stated purpose is to proselytize children and advance one Evangelical Christian worldview, destroying the separation of church and state and fueling today’s surge of Christian Nationalism.

Justice William O. Douglas, writing for the Court in Zorach v. Clauson, 343 U.S. 306 (1952), cautioned that, “This program may be unwise and improvident from an educational or a community viewpoint…each case must be decided on the basis of our own prepossessions.”The decision was context-specific; it was not a blanket authorization for every modern RTRI scheme and it expressly left other constitutional concerns to be resolved case-by-case.

The Ohio General Assembly acted directly against clear public opposition. Opponent testimony on HB445 and SB293 overwhelmingly outnumbered proponents, and both bills stalled in committee. In true political fashion, the mandate was later slipped into the final pages of HB8 and passed near midnight—an eleventh-hour concession to LifeWise’s lobbying muscle rather than the will of Ohioans.

Administrative realities in 1952 differ starkly from today. NEOLA’s optional policy language states that providers “will not provide…any materials, snacks, clothing, trinkets or other items for their return to school.” Dys spotlights the words “Bibles and worksheets,” but LifeWise’s take-home items routinely include branded t-shirts, candy, stickers, and personalized invitations urging classmates to enroll. LifeWise’s own training materials instruct children to “invite a friend”— a built-in recruitment tactic that exploits the school day as a mission field.

Hundreds of opponent testimonies document religious bullying, lost instructional time, use of public-school staff to facilitate LifeWise logistics, and other harms. These concerns were echoed during formal opponent testimony submitted to the Ohio Legislature as it debated HB445 and SB293. Opponent testimony far outnumbered proponent testimony, reflecting widespread, grassroots concern about the effects of mandating religious release time. Many parents and educators shared real-world stories of harm, exclusion, and disruption to the educational mission of public schools.

Equating RTRI with a dentist appointment or field trip is disingenuous. Students released weekly for LifeWise remain “in attendance” under Ohio law, despite missing class. While parents frequently struggle to get necessary absences, like for medical care or family needs, excused without medical notes and may still face truancy concerns, students leaving weekly for religious instruction are still marked “in attendance,” even though they’re off campus and not engaged in public education. Attendance aside, a student leaving for a dentist appointment or a field trip is not equivalent to students leaving for RTRI. Dentists do not hand children flyers to evangelize peers, nor do they remove cohorts of students simultaneously, disrupting instruction. LifeWise does—and trains them to recruit. The comparison is not only inapt—it’s misleading.

During instructional time, schools may regulate speech— religious, political, or otherwise—to preserve order and protect students’ rights. . Martin v. City of Struthers, 319 U.S. 141 (1943), – addressed adult door-to-door proselytizing in private neighborhoods, not elementary classrooms. Public schools are limited public forums; administrators have broad authority to impose content-neutral rules that curb disruption. See Tinker v. Des Moines Indep. Cmty. Sch. Dist., 393 U.S. 503 (1969); Bethel Sch. Dist. v. Fraser, 478 U.S. 675 (1986); Hazelwood Sch. Dist. v. Kuhlmeier, 484 U.S. 260 (1988).

Protecting the school day, students’ instructional time, and taxpayer-funded resources is not hostility to religion. For 146 years, the Supreme court has reaffirmed church-state separation. Our children are afforded that same right during their public school day. Ohio law now requires districts to release students for religious instruction with parental consent, but nothing in the statute or our state or national constitutions oblige schools to relinquish neutral control of their classrooms, serve as promotional channels, or permit entities sponsoring release time programs such as LifeWise to send children back to school with swag and invitations and treat them as couriers for their recruitment.

Thus, while Ohio may mandate that schools allow time release, it does not compel districts to surrender local control over scheduling, nor to permit religious materials or recruitment efforts within the school environment. Schools must implement accommodations consistent with First Amendment principles, ensuring neutrality, avoiding endorsement, and protecting the educational mission for ALL public school children and their families.

-Secular Education Association”

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