🚨TENNESSEE🚨

𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐈𝐬 𝐄𝐥𝐠𝐢𝐧 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧’𝐬 𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 — 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐏𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐁𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐁𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐲?

Blount County Schools ᴊᴜsᴛ voted to send a religious release time policy to committee — a move that could allow students to leave class during the school day for Bible instruction run by the Elgin Children’s Foundation.

The article describing the vote is here:
🔗 https://www.thedailytimes.com/news/blount-county-school-board-votes-to-send-religious-release-policy-to-committee/article_7b5e9de3-0918-48f0-b38d-5d8bea6c9b11.html

SEA has been tracking release-time programs nationwide. Elgin is not just a dental charity or academic support group. Their model blends essential services with religious evangelism, creating a fast-growing pipeline into Tennessee schools.

Here’s what families need to know:

🔹 1. Elgin’s Mission Looks Broad — But It’s Built Around Evangelism
Elgin advertises dental care, academic help, anti-trafficking work, and “Bible discipleship training.”
That mix only makes sense if the goal is using charitable programs to build access and credibility — then expanding into religious instruction during school hours.
This structure creates power dynamics for families who rely on Elgin’s nonreligious services. That alone should make districts proceed with caution.

🔹 2. How Their Bible Release Time (BRT) Program Works
According to statements at the board meeting:

-Students leave class during the school day
-Volunteers (not educators) supervise
-Kids are transported to a church
-Instruction happens off-campus
-Program already operates in 11 districts across 10 counties
-This is not an after-school club.
-This is pulling students out of instructional time and placing them in the custody of volunteers with minimal oversight.

🔹 3. Major Risks for Blount County Families
❗ Liability gaps: Who is responsible the moment a child leaves campus?
❗ Transportation concerns: Volunteer drivers, unclear insurance, unclear training.
❗ Academic disruption: Students miss class. Teachers must adjust lessons. SPED/IEP plans? ESL? Intervention blocks? No clear answers.
❗ Bullying: Parents from nearby districts report ostracism of kids who don’t attend.
These harms aren’t hypothetical — they were raised during public comment in the very districts Elgin operates in now.

🔹 4. Misuse of Zorach v. Clauson
Supporters cite the 1952 Supreme Court case allowing release time, but leave out the key guardrails:

-no coercion
-no academic harm
-no pressure on non-participants
-no school endorsement
🛑Elgin’s program — based on parent testimony from Knox County and beyond — already fails several of these standards.

🔹 5. The Bigger Strategy: Service First, Evangelism Second
Blount County already partners with Elgin for dental services. This is the same pattern we’re seeing across Tennessee:

-Enter schools with needed services
-Build trust
-Introduce Bible Release Time
-Expand through church networks
-Minimize district oversight demands
This is not a coincidence — it’s an expansion strategy.

🔹 6. 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐓𝐞𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐒𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥𝐬
If Elgin secures Blount County, it strengthens their statewide model for church-run programming during public school hours.
Public schools are already strained. They cannot absorb the academic loss, liability risk, and social division that come with weekly (or even monthly) off-campus religious instruction.
Parents can choose religious education.

But public instructional time cannot be repurposed for church recruitment.

📣 SEA will continue monitoring Elgin, its funding, its district partnerships, and its rapid expansion across Tennessee.
If you’re in Blount County — or anywhere in Tennessee — pay very close attention as this policy moves forward.

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