🚨 Is your PUBLIC elementary school advertising enrollment for a Christian ministry?
Because Callisburg Elementary School in Texas is. They aren’t just allowing students to leave for LifeWise Academy…The school itself is sharing LifeWise enrollment advertising on its official Facebook page.
🚨LifeWise also announced that its team would be inside the elementary school during a teacher workday to:
“talk to the teachers and get our strategy in place with our teachers and school leadership.”
🚨Then they planned to return for Meet the Teacher Night to answer questions, sign students up, and hand out “fun things” to fourth graders.
This is exactly the problem. 🤦♀️ Yes, districts may claim they would offer the same access to any qualifying outside organization.
🚫But most religious and secular organizations are not running a coordinated national operation built around gaining access to public-school students during the school day.
🚫They are not showing up at teacher workdays to develop “strategy” with school leadership.
🚫They are not using elementary-school Facebook pages to advertise enrollment.
🚫They are not turning Meet the Teacher Night into a recruitment opportunity.
LIFEWISE IS.
And at some point, we need to stop PRETENDING this is simply about “religious freedom.” Because “religious freedom” is not a magic phrase that makes the Establishment Clause disappear.
👉 This is a private Christian ministry being woven into the machinery of a public elementary school — and THAT should alarm and outrage anyone who cares about keeping public schools public.
👀 Is your public school advertising for LifeWise—or any other religious program?
If you see it, screenshot it. Save the link. Send us the receipts. 🧾
What people are saying:
- Secular Education Association: And yes — this raises serious First Amendment questions.
Released-time religious instruction may be lawful under certain conditions.
But there is a HUGE difference between a public school accommodating a private religious program and a public school promoting it, helping recruit students, coordinating with the ministry, and giving that ministry access to teachers, school leadership, school events, and elementary-age children.
THE DIFFERENCE MATTERS
Because “religious freedom” is not a magic phrase that makes the Establishment Clause disappear.And when a private Christian ministry says it is going into a public elementary school to get its “strategy in place with our teachers and school leadership,” while the school is simultaneously sharing enrollment advertising for that ministry, people should be asking very serious questions.
What exactly was that “strategy”?
What role were school employees expected to play?
Was LifeWise being merely accommodated — or actively facilitated?
We are not declaring this illegal based on two Facebook posts alone.
But we are absolutely saying this:
Public schools do not get to become recruitment arms for private religious ministries simply because released-time religious instruction is permitted.
This deserves scrutiny, records requests, and answers. PERIOD.
- Facebook User: We don’t get to go to teacher PD but Scouting America sends employees to talk to students at lunch to recruit and we are present at Back to School / Meet the Teacher nights. We also send fliers home in backpacks
- Secular Education Association: Facebook User This is actually a really helpful comparison — thank you!
One important difference, though: Scouting America is specifically covered by a federal equal-access law that also protects certain federally chartered youth organizations. LifeWise is not covered by that statute.
So Scouts being allowed recruitment opportunities or having materials distributed through a school is not necessarily an apples-to-apples comparison with a public school actively advertising enrollment for LifeWise.
What caught our attention here is the school itself promoting a private religious program on its official page — especially alongside LifeWise talking about getting its “strategy in place” with teachers and school leadership.
But this is a good example of why we have to look at exactly what access is being given, to whom, and under what authority.
- Secular Education Association: Facebook User This is actually a really helpful comparison — thank you!
- Facebook User: Eewwwww
- Facebook User: They broke the tag. LOL
Go visit and let them know they are breaking the law:
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/19J8chYg9e/
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