House Bill 8, or the so-called "Parents' Bill Rights," was recently signed into law by Gov. Mike DeWine. The bill prohibits schools from teaching any content involving sexuality to students in kindergarten through third grade; requires public schools to notify parents before discussing sexuality in the classroom so parents can request alternative instruction; and mandates that public schools create a policy allowing students to leave school during the day to receive religious instruction.
Some public school advocates have dubbed the bill Ohio's "Don't Say Gay" bill and its religious release requirement is causing concern among parents who worry the requirement will draw more students into the rapidly expanding LifeWise Academy.
What is LifeWise Academy?
Headquartered in Hilliard, Ohio, LifeWise has embedded itself in many school districts in the Columbus area, as well as other districts across the state and country. LifeWise says its programs are designed to empower students by providing them with offsite Bible classes once a week during school hours and claims to serve 457 schools and nearly 39,000 students in 16 states.
In Hamilton County, few public school districts currently have a LifeWise program. The only one existing in the county is through Cincinnati Public Schools at Covedale Elementary on the West Side, according to the organization's website. Outside of Hamilton County, other districts like Lebanon City Schools have also added the program.
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What those against the program say
Molly Gaines is a parent of a student in the New Lebanon Local School District near Dayton and a co-founder of the group Parents Against LifeWise. She says she helped start the group when she heard from other parents in Ohio who claimed their children were negatively affected by the program and later discovered LifeWise was operating at her local school district.
Gaines claims parents reported students missing valuable class time to attend the religious lessons and heard some kids were pressured to attend, or were getting bullied by their classmates for not participating in the program. She also claims LifeWise is pushing a closed-minded interpretation of the Bible.
"It's a very narrow and hateful interpretation of Christianity and we believe they're aiding in the spread of Christian nationalism," Gaines told WVXU.
Though LifeWise Academy says its lessons are nondenominational, the organization's website states it aligns itself with "historic, orthodox Christian beliefs." The organization also says its lessons come from The Gospel Project, a curriculum provided by Lifeway Christian Resources, an entity of the Southern Baptist Convention.
LifeWise's response
Despite this criticism, LifeWise's director of program advocacy Jennifer Jury says the religious education program isn't as intrusive on local school districts and students as some might believe.
Every Ohio public school district will soon have to allow students to leave school to receive religious instruction. The newly signed H.B. 8 doesn't require districts to partner with LifeWise or force students to participate.
"By the very nature of the law, we have to have parents' permission to have students to attend," Jury said in an interview with WVXU. "We don't get permission to just walk into the school and hand out blanket invitations to students that are not enrolled."
Jury claims that many school communities have embraced the religious programming and are excited to welcome LifeWise into their districts. For those that aren't excited about LifeWise, Jury says that's largely due to misconceptions about the program.
"In a lot of cases, when we're facing opposition or questioning, a lot of it is a result of misinformation or misunderstanding," she said. "It is literally the best embodiment of the separation of church and state, which a lot of people are concerned about. Because we literally are separating students from the state-run school for a minute."
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'It's not a witch hunt'
Jury was the program director for LifeWise in Westerville. According to reports from WOSU, the program at Westerville City Schools ended in late 2024 due to liability concerns, missed class time, and reports of bullying by students enrolled in the program.
Molly Gaines now worries what's been reported at Westerville and other districts involved in LifeWise will spread to the rest of Ohio's school districts. Though they don't have to partner with LifeWise specifically, the religious education program is the most prominent one of its kind in the state leaving few options for school leaders.
"It's not necessarily a LifeWise witch hunt. There are other organizations that do this, LifeWise just happens to be the biggest and most successful at this time," Gaines said.
Gaines says although public districts are now saddled with this new religious requirement, there may still be ways for school leaders, parents, and community members to limit the reach of religious programs during school hours.
"There's no way to really stop them, but you can put restrictions in place," Gaines said. "You can write your school policy very tightly in order to restrict them to times like lunch and recess so that they're not taking children out of things that are maybe not deemed 'core' but are very important like music, and art, and physical education."
Though Gaines is disappointed by the new law, she says she hopes it will lead to more parents paying closer attention to what's happening at their children's schools and possible changes in policy in the future.
The religious release requirement is expected to take effect in about 90 days.
