LifeWise
LifeWise, or LifeWise Academy, is an innovative program that teaches public school students about Christianity during the school day at an off-site facility, as allowed by the U.S. Supreme Court decision of Zorach v. Clauson (1952).
LifeWise began in Ohio as founded by a former defensive lineman for the Ohio State football team, Joel Penton. LifeWise has since expanded to a 1,000 schoools in 34 states,[1][2] reaching 100,000 students.
As explained by the Ohio Capital Journal:
| “ | Religious release time instruction must meet three criteria: the courses must take place off school property, be privately funded, and students must have parental permission.
Two central Ohio school districts, Westerville and Worthington, recently rescinded their religious release time policy. Both districts formerly allowed LifeWise Academy to take public school students off-campus for Bible classes during school hours.[2] |
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In 2025, Iowa, Montana, Ohio and Texas enacted new laws establishing the right to released time, with parental approval, for children to leave public school during the school day for free, off-site religious programs, including Bible study. These four states join eight others that already require school districts to accommodate released time religious instruction: Florida, Hawaii, Kentucky, New York, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Vermont and Wisconsin.
The Ohio law, which began in 2024 as H.B. 8, requires "school districts to work with religious release time organizations to pick a time to offer the course during the school day."[2] It took effect on April 9, 2025.
States with LifeWise programs as of 2025 include:
- Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
See also
- School Ministries, an older school Released Time program based in South Carolina
- Criticism of this program by liberal Slate
