What people are saying:

• Facebook User: If one wants religious instruction, go to a private faith based school.
• Facebook User: First time we have dealt with this issue. After 2 years of testing and monitors and drs. And being sent home from school by the school nurse, and why the hell that isnt an automatic exscused absence I will never know, we have found my daughter needs a procedure on her heart. So now we get to deal with days for this.
• Facebook User: So, parents will be sending their children to school sick which will result in more students and staff getting sick. What a lovely idea.
• Facebook User: Last year, my kid missed 2-3 hours per month for therapy appointments plus 2-6 hours per month for specialist doctor appointments. I’m always up front when the school asks why: if they did more about bullying, ableism, anti-lgbtq+ sentiment, etc my kid wouldn’t need so much therapy. If the kids who were being little 🫏 would go to therapy, my kid wouldn’t need so much. And yes, last year a good chunk of that bullying was directly from Lifewise. Kids would return to the school then start telling my kid they are stupid for “believing in” evolution, dinosaurs existing, etc. (Cause, ya know, if the earth is only 6,000 years old, then obviously the dino fossils, etc we find are fake. [In my Sunday school class circa 2000, they specifically told us that “the Devil” put fossils in the earth to lead people astray. 😅😂])
  • Facebook User: I don’t understand what these religious fanatics are so obsessed with dumbing kids down, I would be embarrassed if I had my kid going around telling people oh there no such thing as dinosaurs that’s just insane to me
• Facebook User: It has nothing to do with missed learning time. It’s another tool to make public schools struggle to maintain enrollment.
• Facebook User: Makes you wonder if the parents should claim “religious release” when their kids need counseling or are even have the flu.
  • Facebook User: Facebook User right!? My religion tells me I must take care of my child’s well-being.
  • Secular Education Association: Facebook User Honestly, we’re not sure yet exactly how that would shake out in practice. Typically, though, the released-time program has to verify that the student was actually attending during that time — so simply labeling a medical appointment as RTRI likely wouldn’t be enough. But the fact this question even comes up shows how ridiculous the carve-out is.
  • Facebook User: Facebook User Implementing the policy for unplanned medical absence would be a public health hazard.

    An IEP or section 504 plan can override that blanket policy for planned absences.

    Misrepresenting medical appointments as religious activity could alter the record in a way that would not benefit you long-term. What happens if you later need more accommodations, including at a different school, and you either have to keep those medical appointments that contribute to the diagnosis and documentation of the disability secret, or let it come out that you were misrepresenting them the entire time as religious activity?

    If they found out some other way, including if your child let something slip, they would consider it lying to the government and you would be in a lot of trouble.

• Facebook User: They have names for that: It’s called private school that has religion classes already.
  • Secular Education Association: Facebook User we agree!
• Facebook User: this started in other states and it sometimes counts towards instruction.
  • Secular Education Association: Facebook User Yes! Other states have similar released-time attendance treatment too, and Ohio ALSO allows high school students to receive academic credit for qualifying RTRI courses, which is a whole separate issue and frankly horrifying in its own right. 😬

    This post is specifically about Ohio’s attendance rules and the fact that medically necessary absences can count toward chronic absenteeism while RTRI is expressly treated differently.

    We’ll be looking more closely at the academic-credit side of this too, because that deserves its own conversation.

• Facebook User: My kids get hit with the truancy every single year. 99% of their absences are illness related it’s bullshit
  • Facebook User: Facebook User I hear you. The school year hasn’t even started yet and I already have 2 partial absences planned for an orthodontist and a therapy appointment. It’s incredibly hard to get an appointment outside of the school day because everyone wants those appointments and the doctors close at 4.
• Facebook User: Facebook User
• Facebook User: Facebook User Facebook User this is fundamentally wrong!!!
  • Secular Education Association: Facebook User we absolutely agree.
  • Facebook User: Facebook User unbelievable!
• Facebook User: So if children are signed out under released time religious instruction it doesn’t count as an absence. So sign out for doc appts etc as RTRI. Would it not count towards absences at that point?
  • Secular Education Association: Facebook User Unfortunately you can’t just label a doctor’s appointment as RTRI. The religious program has to actually verify that the student attended.

    But your question gets right to the heart of the issue: if Ohio can create a special attendance exception for religious instruction, why couldn’t lawmakers create similar protection for kids leaving school for medically necessary therapy or treatment?

    Sounds like a double standard to us. 👀

  • Facebook User: Secular Education Association sure does. It’s absolutely ridiculous.
  • Facebook User: Secular Education Association I believe they can. I recall hearing testimony a bit ago to claim attendance at FFA events excused. Not certain where the line or the authority has been in the past (I’m assuming much discretion was local, with a few state mandates). But we should not lose sight of the goal (however clumsy the legislature has been in handling it) of guaranteeing maximum time spent learning.
• Facebook User: my kid got hit with a chronic absenteeism thing when she got covid but it was after the mandates were over- we didn’t go to a doc (did an OTC test) and she was kept home for every day she had symptoms (plus one day). In the document the district sent me, they DIDN’T count other excused medical absences. I suspect some districts can opt to adopt a more loose policy?
  • Secular Education Association: Facebook User You’re remembering correctly — under the previous attendance framework, Ohio did treat medically excused absences differently for some attendance/intervention thresholds.

    That’s one of the changes here. Under the current chronic absenteeism calculation, excused AND medically excused absences still count. The Ohio Department of Education and Workforce specifically says: “Even medically excused absences count toward chronic absenteeism.”

    Districts can absolutely work with families and create individualized supports for children with chronic medical needs, but they can’t simply redefine those hours out of the statewide chronic-absence calculation.

    And THAT is why the RTRI exception jumped out at us. Ohio explicitly says those students are not absent while attending released-time religious instruction.

  • Facebook User: Secular Education Association I’m not doubting you at all-I am just shocked I didn’t know about this change. When did this happen?
  • Secular Education Association: Facebook User you’re ok! we had to triple check this info ourselves when we became aware, it’s absolutely crazy. The change came through HB 96, Ohio’s 2025 state budget, and districts had to adopt the new attendance policies by August 1, 2026. So this school year is when families are really going to start seeing the new framework in action.
  • Facebook User: Secular Education Association got it-this is basically brand new this school year then? oof. This is gonna suck.
  • Secular Education Association: Facebook User Yep. 😩 And we suspect a LOT of parents are going to be dealing with the fallout from this — especially families whose kids need regular therapy, medical care, counseling, or other interventions.

    Which is exactly why this double standard is going to become a lot harder to ignore. 😬

• Facebook User: This is ridiculous and parents really need to storm the school board meetings.
  • Facebook User: School boards have no control over it; it’s state law.
  • Facebook User: Facebook User people like Gary Click, Sara Carruthers, Theresa Gavarone, Al Cutrona, Andrew O. Brenner took away the School Board’s power.
  • Facebook User: Facebook User my board agrees. At least most of it does. They can’t do much about it thanks to the laws they’ve passed state wide.
  • Facebook User: Facebook User It’s NOT the school Boards! It’s the Republican majority legislature in Columbus! They put it in Ohio law. It’s another one of their slights for the importance og public education. Why can’t it take place immediately following the school day?
  • Facebook User: Facebook User i agree but the school boards do have a say in how it is done…AND the Secular Education Assoc posted a sample agreement(however forced it is) that made it very inconvenient for Lifewise. Both actions need to be taken. Sadly most people I mention Lifewise to never heard of it…at least intil it takes a hold in their kid’s school.
  • Facebook User: Facebook User So very true. As a retired school supt. who VALUES education I saw it firsthand. Saying no implies anti religion
    :-(. Furthest from the truth! Conservative communities say “how can we not?” It’s the mechanics established by Columbus that allows (even somewhat promotes) programs such as Lifewise. The CEO has the legislature in his pocket. How about 20 minutes of English in the middle of a church service?
  • Facebook User: Facebook User which is wrong.
  • Facebook User: Facebook User agree
  • Facebook User: Facebook User there’s a fantastic policy guide from SEA to protect education time
• Facebook User: LOL! actually I shouldn’t laugh at the lies of the first post. NONE of the things on that long list are counted as absences Iif your child leaves school *AT LUNCH TIME* which is when kids leave for “religious instruction.” This post has NOTHING to do with concern for that list of genuine needs students have. It is only about being “secular” and having a hatred for God.
  • Facebook User: Facebook User you are mixing excused and unexcused with truancy which was the old method. Yes those things can be excused (medical, therapy, etc.) BUT the law especially this newly effective one adds together excused and unexcused absences. Once the child passes the threshold REGARDLESS of whether it is excused or unexcused the child will be truant and warning letters will go out then a juvenile court action. This has been true for a little bit. For example two years ago my granddaughter ruptured her ACL and had major surgery on it the doctor wanted her out of school for more than 10 days plus she had to do physical therapy for 6 months. Luckily after my daughter got the warning letter the school worked with them labeling the physical therapy as Physical Education. But not every school will do that.

    I have a friend whose child had excused absences that was just under the threshold. The. Child competes on a national level in a sport. They took her out unexcused for several competitions out of state. The combination exceeded the threshold and they are in court right now.

  • Facebook User: Facebook User Unfortunately, lunch is not always when Lifewise is conducted. The children can be removed from electives only in some states (Ohio) but in others, they can be removed from core classes as there isn’t any verbiage that specifically restricts it. Indiana’s released time policy linked below.

    https://www.releasedtime.org/indiana

  • Facebook User: Mark Bohland Lifewise Academy prefers education time. The ONLY reason it is happening at lunch is because dome schools and SEA pushed back.
  • Facebook User: … but yet it IS at lunch time, making the original post disingenuous.
    period….
  • Secular Education Association: Facebook User what? Go sit down. Just because you want us to be lying doesn’t make it true.
  • Facebook User: Facebook User Crying about a “hatred for God” is a pathetic, desperate deflection because you lack the basic intellect to comprehend school funding and policy. Since you clearly don’t support secular public education, take your fragile feelings and go look up ORC 3321.191 and get the Hell out of a group you aren’t smart enough to contribute to. This isn’t a illiteracy support group, Mark.
  • Facebook User: Facebook User some are, MOST AREN’T
  • Facebook User: Facebook User Specific District’s please? … districts where public school students are dismissed from academic subjects to leave school for “religious instruction.” TY
  • Facebook User: Facebook User are you looking for examples? Or a comprehensive list?
  • Facebook User: Secular Education Association is there a list?
  • Facebook User: So then… as study hall…. Not an academic teaching period?
  • Facebook User: Facebook User there wasn’t one before.
  • Facebook User: Facebook User what SECOND GRADER has studyhall?!?! Facebook User tell him about the loss of education your child suffered. Being stuck in a gym?
  • Facebook User: Facebook User Facebook User class was a STEM class that was missed.
  • Facebook User: Hmmm that makes more sense now.
    In my state the state government requires a minimum number of minutes per week for core subjects. Those are not negotiable. So then, “release time” for ANY reason must come from somewhere else, like lunch, recess, or a study hall, while maintaining the required instructional minutes in all academic content areas. If content are minutes ar being sacrificed where you live, that is unacceptable, and is the issue that should be addressed at the proper level… from school board to state legislature.
  • Facebook User: Facebook User there are many reasons why RTRI is unacceptable. It should not be part of the school day. This program encourages ostearization and bullying via it’s antisemetic curriculum. At the very least, there should be oversight and penalties for programs that cause issues. Eventually, hopefully, a lawsuit will end this program.
  • Facebook User: Facebook User LifeWise was scheduled in my school during art, STEM, music, library or gym. Real instruction from licensed professionals. Not biblical tales taught by amateurs with shaky background checks, limited teaching skills and deficits in critical thinking. Not threats of hell because your parent is divorced or because your friend is gay.
    What impact does this have on the school as a whole? The office has to generate lists of participants. The lists are emailed out each quarter. Teachers manage these lists just as they mange lunch counts, early dismissals, etc. Students get pulled out of class. They come back, wired up from treats. They ask their friends to come with them next time. It is an added transition in a school day already full of them.
    What did the LW kids miss? In STEM, they missed:
    ● Learning how to code and engaging in computational thinking
    ● Building simple electrical circuits
    ● Programming robots to navigate a maze
    ● Building a prosthetic hand
    ● Building and testing a foam rocket
    ● Engaging in critical thinking
    ● Creating a helicopter out of paper
    ● Learning about solar eclipses and making masks and viewers
    ● Growing herbs hydroponically
    ● Using given materials to solve a problem
    ● Learning to work collaboratively
    ● Learning about 3D modeling
    ● Creating on-screen animation
    ● Learning to measure
    ● Building balloon-powered cars and racing them
    ● Testing a model structure on an earthquake table
    ● Balancing a structure on a toothpick
    And on and on…
    Oh, it doesn’t matter, we can just skip assessing that because the curriculum we work so hard to honor is being interrupted because an outside group thinks what it teaches is more important than the standards-based instruction from an actual public school.
  • Facebook User: Facebook User or non-secular activities that do the same thing – i.e. hand out snacks, do a craft, give little gifts. So there are alternatives.
  • Facebook User: Facebook User what is really scary is the Lifewise “instructors” arent necessarily being background checked. Been numerous ones charged now for child abuse – this is the last one I heard about. But plenty more. https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/2026/06/02/ohio-men-previously-involved-with-lifewise-academy-charged-with-sex-crimes-involving-minors/
  • Facebook User: Facebook User are they 3rd parties making millions during school hours?
  • Facebook User: Facebook User thank you! Can I screenshot this?
  • Facebook User: Facebook User I’m sure money is somehow involved
  • Facebook User: Facebook User well when they make over $17 million in profit, in one year, alert me.
  • Facebook User: Facebook User Of course!
  • Facebook User: Facebook User per Google — LifeWise Inc. (operating as LifeWise Academy) reported a total revenue of $39.2 million and a net income (profit) of $11.1 million in its recent nonprofit IRS Form 990 financial filings.
• Facebook User: Our district only allows Lifewise during lunch and recess time preventing class absences. Don’t see why it couldn’t be like that for everyone. Solid compromise. 🤷‍♀️
  • Facebook User: Facebook User lunch and recess still count as “hours” in school. They’re leaving school grounds, so that time should count toward being absent. I can’t schedule every appointment for my child during lunch, after or before school. Sometimes things just happen and 30 min at the end of the day need to be missed.
  • Facebook User: Facebook User so your kids get molested during school time…i’m sure that’s lovely
• Facebook User: Yet Lifewise takes kids out of school and thats just fine. Wtf
  • Facebook User: Facebook User sadly parents consent to this or it wouldn’t happen
  • Secular Education Association: Facebook User well that’s exactly the point — parental consent isn’t what determines whether the time counts.

    A parent can consent to speech therapy, counseling, a specialist appointment, or other necessary care for their child, and that time can still count toward chronic absenteeism.

    But when a parent consents to released-time religious instruction, Ohio law specifically says the student is not absent. That’s the double standard we’re talking about.

  • Facebook User: Facebook User its bullshit, why is there preferential treatment for lazy parents?
  • Facebook User: Secular Education Association I don’t think parents are fully informed that “religious education” is given a higher priority than speech therapy. It’s very sad.
• Facebook User: Not everyone religion follows the Christian calendar.
• Facebook User: You can handle religion instruction outside of school times. That’s like even what grown ups during the week.
  • Facebook User: Facebook User I’m not sure what’s required in terms of religious accommodation. Something must be required legally or they wouldn’t be doing it. Normally districts with these draconian, blanket policies wouldn’t waive them unless compelled legally.
• Facebook User: If it’s weekly, that’s around 200 hours of instructional time being interrupted.
• Facebook User: Look at who wrote the law.
• Facebook User: I don’t think their policy can apply if you have an IEP or section 504 plan. Needed absences can be documented and waived through that mechanism.

  It does need to be evaluated rigorously, because some disabled people have been denied education in the name of therapy, or because the school didn’t want them there so they framed Time away as an accommodation.

  Maybe they have a cap on how often you can be absent for religious instruction, but they know they can’t impose such a blanket number when it comes to disability.

  You might argue that they shouldn’t have an IEP or section 504 plan if the only accommodation they need at school is to have excused absences. Not only is this rarely the case, but chronic absence, even for legitimate reasons, needs to be evaluated. Districts have had to pay for in hospital tutors before.

  But exploitation and educational de prioritization mean that you shouldn’t just be able to continually mark Medical and do it without question. Because the absences will be happening regularly, it needs to be documented what work they will miss, and how to deliver that instruction or whether to put them on a modified curriculum.

  If the policy applies to unplanned medical absence, that will cause public health issues because parents will be incentivized to send their kids to school sick.

• Facebook User: I have two additional thoughts, parent CHOICE AND ACCOUNTABILITY TO WHAT IS NON-sanctioned, meaning 1…SCHOOL TEAM, sports, 2…transportation vastly provided directly by school, or parents, same to therapy, “non-medical” ie meaning not needing EMT, medical transport intervention or support, these are network billing LEGAL LINGO, terminology, realities, if a parent wants “priority to religion in education hours” choose private school, inclusive curriculum to area of study, point of ALL STATES. United, one nation. freedom of prayer, is private, self and personal religious routine and IN USA FREEDOM IN PUBLIC ENVIRONMENTS, inclusion of school, ZERO NEED FOR FELLOWSHIP. Group of any size, activists, or Union to any alliance of faith practiced, that is outside education hours and in following RELIGION STANDARDS, what FAITH IS DAP, developmentally appropriate in practice to RELIGION once a wk, is that CONFESSION, special academic, and state of Ohio sanctions this PROGRAM OF RELIGION TO TRAFFIC CHILDREN FOR WHAT, prayer of private freedom to do daily at school as taught at home FIRST BY LEGAL PARENTS, same to prayer/blessing at meal, done daily at school and by choice to each, legal allowed and no need to REMOVE. Segregate to any one building, a third party and typical to be like “pop-up, home church”, meaning trafficked, transported to a private church of state licensed business, the known direct affiliates, one campus to sever all schools of local, dictator and not of CIVIL MANNER!!
• Facebook User: The excused vs unexcused arguments tend to muddy the water. Time away from instruction has the same impact whether it’s for a dentist appointment, vacation, funeral, illness or FFA event. Should be kept to a minimum, knowing that some absence is inevitable.
  • Facebook User: Facebook User and for students with chronic illnesses?
  • Facebook User: Facebook User Seems that’s the sort of thing that should be accommodated with an IEP. Emphasis on how to ensure the student is kept up.
  • Facebook User: Facebook User but not every student qualifies. I sure didn’t. State of Ohio didn’t care at all.
  • Facebook User: Facebook User Schools would prefer NOT to determine a student as qualifying. Doesn’t mean that the student doesn’t meet legal qualifications. And it really does make more sense to accommodate individually than to demand the legislature codify every potential reason that a kid might legitimately need more than the allowed number of absences.
  • Facebook User: Facebook User my point was I, as a high gpa student, had to deal with an entire year of truancy bullshit because of chronic illness and disability in my family. The school was aware, the truancy officer was aware, and no accommodations were ever offered. That’s an issue if you can’t even get to the tools. All there was involved pulling me out of more class to play 20 questions on an already known condition.

    Let’s not make chronically ill people’s lives harder by gate keeping that too. We deal with enough.

• Facebook User: This also includes time out of school for school sanctioned activities and events like FFA, Quiz Bowl competitions, class trips, school sports, BPA, etc. Literally knew a kiddo who had perfect attendance but was active in a lot of school groups who got a truancy warning letter for missing ONLY for school sanctioned events. I am not even kidding.
  • Facebook User: Facebook User depending on the districts set policy. Certain ‘school-spondored instructional opportunities’. Districts may decide to include these types of events, allowing students to attend without accruing missed time.
  • Facebook User: Facebook User yes, they just often don’t, which is concerning.