The Clyde-Green Springs Local School District has allowed school employees to also work for Lifewise Academy. The Ohio Released Time Religious Instruction (RTRI) law states, “(5) No public funds are expended and no public school personnel are involved in providing the religious instruction.” These guardrails are in place to limit the influence of a religious organization on the public schools.

Public records show that two district employees are volunteering for Lifewise Academy. Lifewise Academy is utilizing the background checks conducted by the school to facilitate its own program, a direct use of district resources. The conflict of interest grows as public schools and churches are allowed to integrate further.

In public records requests received from the Clyde-Green Springs School District, the communications about Lifewise Academy indicate that the criminal background checks done for two other volunteers were completed by a local church and are almost three years old. The Clyde-Green Springs school board policy for RTRI states that background checks should be done within one year.

The full Clyde-Green Springs policy language on RTRI background checks:

“Any instructors or volunteers of a private sponsoring entity providing a released time course in
religious instruction to the Board’s students must submit to the District Superintendent the
results of a criminal records check, performed by the Ohio Attorney General’s Bureau of
Criminal Investigation within one (1) year of submission, evidencing whether the individual has
been convicted of or pleaded guilty to any of the criminal violations listed R.C. 3319.39(B)(1).”

The director of the Clyde-Green Springs Lifewise program clearly does not want to manage or control the background checks of its own staff and is leaning on the public schools for this. This echoes what is also happening in the neighboring Tiffin City School District, where Lifewise has stated they were not going to follow the school board policy and complete BCI criminal background checks. Lifewise Academy has a pattern of not taking responsibility for student safety, leaning on public resources to facilitate background checks, and ignoring school board policy.

If you want Lifewise to be held to the law and policies, you have to speak up. Read your school board policy, contact your school board, and let them know that these infractions are not right. If Lifewise can not be trusted to adhere to the law, what else are they not telling you?