The newest member of the Dennis-Yarmouth Regional School Committee has presented Superintendent Carol Woodbury with an ultimatum to scrap Calmer Choice, the mindfulness-based stress-reduction program offered to elementary and middle school students as part of their school day.

SOUTH YARMOUTH — The newest member of the Dennis-Yarmouth Regional School Committee has presented Superintendent Carol Woodbury with an ultimatum to scrap Calmer Choice, the mindfulness-based stress-reduction program offered to elementary and middle school students as part of their school day.

The California-based National Center for Law and Policy sent a 24-page legal memorandum to school officials Tuesday on behalf of parent and school committee member Michelle LaRowe Conover, giving the district until Feb. 14 to agree “to suspend and not renew any and all contracts with Calmer Choice,” the organization hired by the school.

The center contends the mindfulness program is based on Buddhist beliefs, which it says violates the constitutional tenets of religious freedom and separation of church and state.

“Parents are being misled,” Dean Broyles, the center's president and chief legal counsel, wrote in a statement accompanying the memorandum. “Even purportedly ‘secular’ (Mind-Based Stress Reduction) programs have been documented as having a religiously transformative impact, acting as a gateway to Buddhism and a Buddhist worldview. MSBR simply does not belong in public schools.”

The National Center for Law and Policy is a “nonprofit legal defense organization which focuses on the protection and promotion of religious freedom, the sanctity of life, traditional marriage, parental rights and other civil liberties,” according to its website.

Asked whether the center would sue the district, Broyles wrote in an email that “We expect the district to read the letter carefully, comply with the law and protect the health and safety of children, but we are exploring all legal options.”

Conover confirmed all legal options were on the table.

Broyles said his organization had taken other districts to court over similar conflicts “in the recent past,” but currently had no cases pending.

Other charges in the memorandum include the lack of vetting the program received before it was adopted by the district, the lack of scientific data on the effectiveness of mindfulness training for schoolchildren or its impact on their young brains; and contracts between Calmer Choice and the school district that exempt the former from any legal liability.

In a written statement to the Times, Woodbury described Calmer Choice as “one strategy to help our children cope with the social-emotional issues so many are facing today. We are all concerned with the opioid crisis. People need alternative ways other than self-medication to deal with difficult and traumatic experiences.”

There have also been opportunities for parents to attend information sessions, Woodbury wrote. The only feedback from parents “has been positive, including stories of how it has helped children in challenging situations.”

Although Woodbury said she was unaware of any parents opting to keep their children out of the program, Conover said she had opted out both of her children.

A legally acceptable option for Woodbury would be to transform the Dennis-Yarmouth program to an after-school offering that is not supported by taxpayer dollars, Broyles wrote.

The program provided by Calmer Choice is taught in a series of 16 20-minute sessions over eight weeks, and its aim is to help children train their minds “to focus on breath, focus on sensation or focus on kindness and gratitude,” according to the organization’s website, to break the loop of negative thoughts and to restore calm.

Children and adolescents can use the training to combat stress, harassment and bullying, and curb self-destructive behavior.

The Yarmouth-based organization, founded in 2010, partners with local schools in teaching students how to increase their inner resilience, according to the organization’s website. Its program reaches more than 6,000 Cape students in 18 schools and eight school districts.

Conover had taken her concerns to Woodbury, along with research to support her points, in December. After the meeting, Woodbury agreed not to renew the district’s contracts with Calmer Choice, according to the memorandum. “The district renewed several Calmer Choice contracts in December in spite of Mrs. Woodbury’s earlier promise,” the memorandum says.

The superintendent said the district’s decision regarding the program would depend on the advice of legal counsel.

"To date, this is the first parental concern that has been brought to my attention," she said.

A call to Calmer Choice for comment was not returned.

— Follow Christine Legere on Twitter: @chrislegereCCT.