New London Local Schools in Ohio was one of the earliest communities to implement a LifeWise program and according to reporting from the Norwalk Reporter, was the first program in the nation to infiltrate every grade in their schools. All K-12.

In July, Secular Education Association noticed that LifeWise’s internal tracking systems had changed the “launch step” of New London’s program from 11, a mature program, to 12, something we hadn’t seen before. We wanted answers, so our volunteers started digging.

It didn’t long for us to start seeing the story. The first thing we found were a few vague FaceBook posts from Buddy Workman (New London’s original director) and other local volunteers with the program.

Workman stated in a post from July that “LifeWise will not continue its program in New London” and thanked the community for being willing to “buy in” to their program. It is important to note that although Workman was the original driving force and long time director of New London’s program, he was no longer a part of local efforts or leadership. Workman has been climbing LifeWise’s corporate ladder for quite some time and has held various positions at LifeWise’s corporate level.

When local New London leaders spoke out, they had to clarify some things. Our volunteers then found posts from two locally involved individuals. Although the posts are from two different people, they share so much identical language it’s hard to not think they were scripted. These posts made it clear that New London Faith Group (the local 501c3 set up to operate LifeWise locally) will still be offering bible classes in the upcoming year. Both posts state they will still be supporting LifeWise with prayers and share that they are thankful for starting with LifeWise and the doors that were opened. These posts both claim the local program simply decided to change companies and curriculum, saying “the new program is a better fit” for the community.

Today, our volunteers uncovered the rest of the picture. The New London Christian Character Academy page made the official announcement that the program has partnered with School Ministries Ohio, an organization that has been providing RTRI programming in Ohio since before Joel Penton was bench warming for the Buckeyes.

Their announcement states the new partnership allows them to be independent and community focused, 100% locally governed and operated and even give assurances to the community that 100% of their donation will stay local.

A follow up post had to be made (with a sweet AI graphic) to clarify how background checks would be handled for local employees and volunteers since LifeWise was no longer involved. In a bold statement, the organization said “we believe in taking every reasonable step to ensure the safety of the children”. The post goes on to say every staff member and volunteer WILL NOW be required to complete the same Ohio BCI and FBI fingerprint background checks that real teachers do.

Look at the situation, look at the reasons for the change in providers, and look at the language in the posts. Come to your own conclusions. Does LifeWise support local communities? Do they take every safety precaution? Did LifeWise decide to “not continue its program” as their corporate lackey framed it? Or did a local community see so many issues being under LifeWise for five years that they decided to go with a more experienced, less controversial company.

You decide.

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