🚨 “MAY” or “SHALL”? One Word Changes Everything 🚨

Did you know a single word in your state’s law can decide whether public schools must excuse students for religious classes during the school day?

📚 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧:

✅ “𝐌𝐚𝐲” 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 – Law says districts may allow released time. It’s optional. Local boards can approve—or reject—programs like LifeWise.

🔍 Example: Kentucky’s law (KRS 158.200) says a district may provide an opportunity for students to attend moral instruction classes during the school day.

That word 𝒎𝒂𝒚 means local school boards are not required to approve or coordinate with programs like LifeWise — it’s entirely their choice.

If a district does approve a program, the law outlines:
📌Students who attend get full attendance credit as if they were in school.
📌Students who don’t attend must be placed in “noncredit enrichment” or activities outside the regular curriculum (study hall, art, music, library, PE, etc.).
📌These students can be grouped with other grade levels.

Because the law starts with 𝒎𝒂𝒚, districts in Kentucky 𝐝𝐨 have the option to deny requests for released-time religious instruction. However, districts that wish to deny a program must include a reason for denial in their reporting.

Effectively, Kentucky is a “𝐌𝐚𝐲” state — Bottom line: Kentucky’s law makes released time possible, not automatic. Every district still decides for itself — which means community input matters.

🚨 𝐈𝐟 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐮𝐩, 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐛𝐨𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬.

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✅ “𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥” States – Law says districts shall allow released time if certain conditions are met. Once the boxes are checked, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐲𝐞𝐬.

🔍 Example: Ohio’s law (Ohio Revised Code § 3313.6022) says a school district 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 adopt a policy that authorizes students to be excused for released-time religious instruction if certain conditions are met.

🔍 Example: Tennessee’s law says a district may adopt a policy… but also says schools 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 excuse students upon parental request—even without a policy. That means districts do not have the option to deny released‑time requests if all statutory requirements are satisfied. Effectively making Tennessee a “𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥” state.

𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠? 𝐀𝐛𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲. 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠.

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❓ 𝐍𝐨 𝐋𝐚𝐰 – No state statute. Local boards decide, guided by federal court rulings.

‼️📈 This legal gray area is where LifeWise Academy thrives—working state by state to turn “may” into “shall” and make access mandatory nationwide ‼️

👀⚠️🆘 𝐊𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞’𝐬 𝐥𝐚𝐰 — 𝐢𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐞𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐲.

Link below includes this information and more. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1CVN9Dyaa-69g9XS_6Eu1-3I2JSCBKRcP4Nqdl_T_reA/edit?usp=sharingSecular Education Association

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