Arkansas Schools Can Offer Released Time—Here’s How

Religious Freedom, , ,

Recently we have written about released time programs at Arkansas’ public schools.

Legally, public schools may set aside released time during the school week for students to voluntarily attend religious classes off-campus.

Released time makes it possible for students to be excused from school so they can attend Bible studies or other religious classes during normal school hours.

Thanks to federal court rulings, released time programs have been in operation for over 100 years across the U.S. — although some states have chosen to enact laws officially recognizing released time and outlining school policies authorizing it.

Unfortunately, Arkansas has no law concerning released time at public schools. So how can public school students in Arkansas utilize released time?

In 1952, the U.S. Supreme Court case Zorach v. Clauson affirmed released time programs in America. In a 6-3 decision, the Court found that released time did not violate the First Amendment. As long as these programs are voluntary — with written parental consent — privately funded, and operate off school grounds, they are constitutional.

Generally speaking, released time in Arkansas requires three components:

  1. A church or other organization that wants to fund and conduct a released time program off-campus.
  2. School board approval for a policy authorizing students to leave campus for released time during school hours.
  3. Parental consent for the student to participate in the program.

Once a church or other group properly plans and prepares to operate a released time program, they can go to the local school board to seek approval and then collaborate with the school district to set the best time in the day for a released time program.

As long as the program meets off-campus, obtains parental consent, and is privately funded, then the school board may authorize the program. 

The private entity that oversees the released time program is encouraged to work with the local school district and school board to set up a mutually agreeable schedule that benefits students.  If planned correctly, released time programs generally do not conflict with a student’s core courses like math or English.

Students can already participate in multiple programs during the school week that are extracurricular, including activities that are not on school grounds. These can include pursuing career and technical programs, participating in academic clubs, student governments, the arts, and volunteering in community work. In that regard, released time is no different from many other extracurricular activities.

Family Council hopes to work with state and local policymakers in the future to promote released time programs and help pass a law formally recognizing released time in Arkansas. If you are interested in starting a released time program in your community, you are welcome to contact our office at 501-375-7000 for more information.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

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Are Public Schools Lying to Parents?

Transgender, , , ,

Our friends at Alliance Defending Freedom have recently spoken out about how schools are hiding important information about students from their parents.

ADF CEO, President, and General Counsel Kristen Waggoner recently appeared on “The Hugh Hewitt Show” to discuss the situation — and how she hopes the U.S. Supreme Court will eventually address it.

ADF writes,

During the 2020-21 school year, a 6th-grade girl in Ludlow, Massachusetts, shared with a teacher that she had told a friend she ‘likes girls,’ was experiencing low self-esteem and depression, and needed help. The teacher shared these concerns with the girl’s mother, and both agreed to work together to help her. The student’s parents promptly got their daughter a therapist, informed the school she was getting professional help, and expressly directed school staff to have no further private conversations with their daughter about her mental health issues. But when the student sent an email to teachers and counselors informing them that she now identified as “genderqueer” and wanted to be addressed by a new name and a new list of pronouns, they began doing so without informing the student’s parents or asking for their consent. The parents found out and asked the district to stop, but it refused. The parents filed a lawsuit challenging the school district’s clear violation of their parental rights, and Alliance Defending Freedom filed an amicus brief in their support at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit. Unfortunately, the 1st Circuit failed to protect parental rights.

Over the years, we have seen pro-LGBT activists use public schools to promote transgender ideology to kids in many different ways — but policymakers have pushed back.

In 2021 Arkansas passed Act 461 to prevent male athletes from competing against girls in women’s athletics at school. This good law protects fairness in women’s sports in Arkansas.

That same year, lawmakers passed the Save Adolescents from Experimentation (SAFE) Act generally prohibiting doctors from performing sex-change procedures on children or giving them puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones. Unfortunately, that law has been blocked in court, but we believe it ultimately will be upheld.

In 2023 Arkansas lawmakers took additional action by passing Act 317 to protect privacy in public school locker rooms, showers, restrooms, changing areas, and similar facilities by requiring public schools to designate these facilities for “male” or “female” use.

Legislators also passed Act 274 of 2023 letting a child who undergoes a sex-change procedure sue the healthcare provider who performed the procedure if the child suffers any injury as a result. Act 274 also outlines informed-consent processes for sex-change surgeries, puberty blockers, and cross-sex hormones, and it contains protections for healthcare providers who decline to perform sex-reassignment procedures.

In 2023 the Arkansas Legislature passed the LEARNS Act overhauling public education in Arkansas, prohibiting critical race theory in public schools, and protecting young elementary school children from inappropriate sexual material in the classroom.

This year legislators passed Act 955 by Sen. Blake Johnson (R — Corning) and Rep. Mary Bentley (R — Perryville) protecting physical privacy and safety of Arkansans in showers, locker rooms, changing rooms, restrooms, and sleeping quarters in government buildings, jails, and in shelters for victims of domestic violence.

Taken together, all of these good laws protect children at school and elsewhere around the state. Public school students should not be taught to question their sexual-orientation or their gender, and schools should not lie to parents about what their children are learning at school. We appreciate Alliance Defending Freedom standing up for parental rights, and we appreciate Arkansas’ policymakers protecting children.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

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