Upon further review...
-Program was changed to off site, with family and church providing transportation. +
-State allows for it ++
The concept of "released time" dates back to the very early 1900s. It has always focused on elementary school-aged children, because people have known for generations that it's right around the 4th grade age bracket or soon thereafter when social consciousness begins to emerge. It's that 9-11 years old age range when kids begin to both listen to and engage in conversation about sociopolitical issues that had mostly been background noise in previous years.
The early concepts were that elementary schools would be closed one day a week (in addition to Sunday, of course) so that parents could have their children receive religious instruction outside the school premises. The first to do that was, famously,
Dr. William Albert Wirt, in Gary, Indiana in 1914, where he enveloped Released Time into what was called the Gary Plan. The Gary Plan is a platoon system, or a work-study-play system that many people here over 50 will be familiar with (some students are learning the Three Rs while others are leaning sewing and wood shop).
Released Time became fairly popular throughout the country, and reached its peak enrollment totals in 1947, when 2 million students were enrolled in some 2,200 communities. Today there are about 1000 Released Time programs with about 250,000 students participating. There are 12 states with legislation that allows Released Time programs. Utah takes that one step further and legislatively
requires it of the public schools unless there is a waiver in place.
But there was a famous Supreme Court case (well, famous if you're familiar with Released Time, and separation of church and state generally),
McCollum v. Board of Education in 1948 where the court ruled that the (specifically Champaign, IL) program was unconstitutional since it used the state's compulsory education system to aid in the teaching of religious doctrine and tax-supported school buildings were being used. The fact that students were being coerced by the school into enrolling in the program didn't help. It's no coincidence that the articles listed in this thread above have parents and supporters of Released Time making special note that the program 'is not on school property, public funds are not used, parents have to sign their kids, and it's completely optional,' because not being "completely optional" is what got Champaign in trouble.
The Court voted 8-1 on that one. After that ruling Release Time programs around the country took a significant hit, as most were taking place on school property.
The 1952 case of
Zorach v. Clauson challenged a New York State law which did basically what the Michigan law does, and ruled 6-3 in favor of the law. The NY law
"involves neither religious instruction in public schools nor the expenditure of public funds." Justice William O. Douglas wrote that a public school
"may not coerce anyone to attend church, to observe a religious holiday, or to take religious instruction. But it can close its doors or suspend its operations as to those who want to repair to their religious sanctuary for worship or instruction. No more than that is undertaken here."
The Fremont program was moved off school property 2 years ago when they got called on it for having the religious instruction in the physical classrooms of the school. It was incredibly stupid on the part of Fremont to ever have a Released Time program take place on school property in the first place, since the
McCollum v. Board of Education ruling should be burned into the brain of anyone having anything to do with Released Time. But then to get called on it, and move it off campus, but continue promoting and actively encouraging it is beyond stupid. You can let parents know that a Released Time program is available for those who want to take advantage of it to, as the court put it, "
repair to their religious sanctuary for worship or instruction," but you can't as a public institution go and promote a specific program at a specific church.
The Pennsylvania School Code requires all Pennsylvania public schools to accommodate a parent's request for Release Time Education by excusing their child from school to receive religious instruction outside of the school. But the school only accommodates the parent's request, and doesn't promote any particular program. The New York City public school system participates in Release Time, with the Jewish Release Time of Greater New York being a big program there. But the school only accommodates those who want to be excused from school for the program, and doesn't actively or specifically promote the Jewish or any of the other various programs. Outside of Utah, it's South Carolina where Released Time programs are the most prevalent.
In Kentucky, where I live, state law states
"The Board of Education of each school district may authorize a complete survey of all the public school children in order to determine which children desire moral instruction. The Boards of Education,"shall allow" the release of students for "at least one hour, one day a week" to attend moral instruction in accordance with their religious faith." (This appears to only put a minimum on the amount of time that must allow, but the Attorney General has said that schools may release students for no longer than this amount of time.) It also says that,
"All students who receive permission and attend religious instruction each week will be credited with the time spent as if they had actually been in attendance at public school. Such moral instruction may only be given without expense to any Board of Education."
If a school (prompted mostly by the parents of the kids, who should be in charge of how their kids are educated) wants to have a Released Time program once a month, or once a week, or even once a day, I don't care. But the school itself can't be the one promoting it.
