Knox School Board votes 'no' on letting kids out of class for religious lessons

Show Caption Hide Caption Can Knox County kids skip school for Bible study? Once a month, some 70 students from Sterchi Elementary miss an hour of school to go to a nearby evangelistic church for a Bible lesson.

The Knox County Board of Education narrowly rejected a proposal that would have allowed students to leave their public school for one hour every month of off-site religious instruction.

The proposal was predicated on a 2015 Tennessee law that allows local school boards to have a policy excusing students during the school day to attend a course in “religious moral instruction for up to one hour every week.

The Church at Sterchi Hills, backed by the Christian nonprofit Elgin Foundation, has been piloting a once-a-month program at Sterchi Elementary School in North Knoxville since spring.

They’re transported about two miles to the church, where they have 10 minutes of “singing and games,” 10 minutes of “memory work, prayer and review” and a 25-minute Bible lesson before being taken back to school. None of the religious instruction can take place on school property or use taxpayer dollars. The church must transport the children, and parents must sign a waiver for their children to attend.

The board voted 5-4 Wednesday night on a revised policy that requires all religious instruction time programs offered during the school day to be offered on the same day at the same time, to minimize class disruption, and for churches or other entities offering the program to have liability insurance and conduct background checks on members who will interact with children. Those changes addressed some concerns raised during the board's work session last week.

Elgin: Supreme Court settled

The Elgin Foundation has had similar programs approved in at least 11 other Tennessee districts. In Knox County, it’s raised questions about separation of church and government, the potential for bullying of children who don’t participate, the safety of children who leave school with a third-party entity during the school day, and missed instructional time.

Foundation president Tim Rogers, who spoke at Wednesday night's meeting, said the U.S. Supreme Court already paved the way for this type of religious instruction program in its 1952 decision in Zorach vs. Clauson, which allowed children to leave public school for religious instruction and services.

"As a parent, we are asked a lot to help make you all successful, and make our kids successful, and we're happy to do it," Rogers said, listing several ways he said parents are asked to contribute to public schools. "Education, at its best, is a wonderful dance between the school system and the parents. But at the end of the day, they are my kids."

Rogers said a vote against the policy was a tacit endorsement of atheism, deferring to families who don't have religious beliefs.

Varying opinions

For about an hour and a half, members of the public spoke for and against both the policy and the Bible Release Time program. Several parents voiced their support of the program.

"This program allows my children to build a community, it allows them to praise God, to sing and worship God, and to learn God's Word," said Ashley Rickels, whose children attend Sterchi. "This is an hour of hope for my children. We live in a secular world with rising rates of childhood anxiety and depression. This is a tool to combat that."

Lawyer Clayton Wood, director of Thrive Lonsdale youth ministry, predicted Knox County would be saddled with a reputation for being "hostile to the Bible" if the policy didn't pass.

"I don't think that's a position this board wants to be in," he said.

Others spoke of their own experiences with religious discrimination and fears such programs could engender bullying, as well as cautioning board members that more intrusive requests could follow. A number didn't oppose the program, only the fact that it took place during the school day.

"Knoxville has changed," said Lillian Mashburn. "There are many vibrant religious communities in Knox County in addition to the many varieties of Christian communities. ... All religious traditions and faiths should be valued and afforded equal access."

Several music teachers spoke of losing already too-short class time,and noted both state and school board policies call art and music — the classes most frequently missed for Released Time — "core" subjects.

"There are a fair share of people who tell me I'm not putting God first if I stand in opposition to this proposed policy," said Amanda Bivens, who teaches at Farragut Intermediate. "To that, I respond that there is nothing — nothing! — more holy than making music with other human beings."

"If the teachers are against this, why are we even talking about it anymore?" said Angela Allred, who called the assertion that implementing Released Time program won't cost taxpayer money "dishonest." "Please listen to the teachers."

'Parents have right' without policy

After public forum, board members engaged in another half-hour of discussion before voting.

Hill urged the board to consider a policy to establish some parameters for such programs, since they are legal, before the trend "gets away from us."

But Kristy pointed out that the state law dates to 2015 — before the Sterchi program began in Knox County this year. Parents already have the right to pull their children from school during the day for religious instruction, she said — and the board vote was on a policy, not on a particular program.

"If we’re supporting parents' rights, let’s just leave things how they are … and let them pursue those opportunities on their own," she said.

The vote was five against adopting the policy, four in favor, with board members Susan Horn, Terry Hill, Patti Bounds and Mike McMillan voting yes and Virginia Babb, Evetty Satterfield, Jennifer Owen, Tony Norman and Kristi Kristy voting no.