On a Tuesday evening in March, about 15 Stilwell-area community members gathered to hear a presentation from Jim Brown, the Oklahoma State Director of LifeWise Academy.
“I know this is going to shock you,” Brown said. “But what I’m going to talk about tonight is Bible education for public school students during school hours.”
Using a slide show and videos, Brown explained that LifeWise facilitates opt-in, off-campus Bible programming for students during the school day — called “released time courses.”
LifeWise has launched or is in the final stages of development at six Oklahoma schools: South Coffeyville, Grove, Tahlequah, Broken Arrow, Altus and Edmond. LifeWise declined to allow StateImpact to visit a course session.
LifeWise — headquartered in Hilliard, Ohio — has drastically grown since its inception in 2018. It now has programs in at least 31 states and, according to IRS reports, brought in $35.3 million in revenue in 2024.
“In the United States of America right now, there are 50 million public school students,” Brown said to the audience. “And the ultimate goal of LifeWise is to provide access to Bible education to every one of them.”
Released time courses have been legal since the 1952 Zorach v. Clauson Supreme Court decision, which allows public school students to receive religious instruction off-campus during school hours as long as public funds were not used.
At least one of Oklahoma’s six current LifeWise groups, South Coffeyville, was in the beginning stages of development before the 2024 legislative session, according to that site’s director. But a new state law opens the doors for released time courses to spring up at any traditional public school, excluding charter schools.
House Bill 1425 by Rep. Clay Staires (R-Skiatook) and Sen. Dave Rader (R-Tulsa) requires school districts to allow released time courses for religious or moral instruction. Schools must allow students to attend the courses for no more than three class periods per week or a maximum of 125 class periods per school year.
In Oklahoma’s law, parents or legal guardians must provide written consent for students to participate. School districts may not expend funds other than minimal administrative costs, and no district personnel, equipment or resources may be used. The group offering the course must maintain attendance records and make them available to districts.
Groups must also provide transportation to and from the course site, which must be off-campus. The law also requires that districts hold no liability for what occurs during the course. Students assume responsibility for any missed school work, and course instructors are not required to be licensed teachers.
Oklahoma’s law also goes further than most — it instructs school districts to award academic credit for work completed in a course substantiated by a transcript from the third-party entity providing it.
Students “shall” be awarded elective credit for the completion of each released time course, and district boards of education must evaluate the course for credit in a “neutral and secular manner,” such as the amount of classroom instruction time or methods of assessment.
LifeWise CEO Joel Penton told StateImpact through a statement the nonprofit lobbied Oklahoma lawmakers to pass the law. He said staff members also provided “education materials about legislation that is aligned with our mission.”
“LifeWise has been supportive of legislation that gives all families the freedom to choose off-campus religious instruction during school hours for their children,” Penton said. “We follow all laws that any nonprofit must comply with in regards to lobbying activity.”
Oklahoma joined at least 11 other states with laws on the books requiring schools to allow the courses. Model legislation closely resembling House Bill 1425 was adopted last year at the National Association of Christian Lawmakers’ conference, where LifeWise gave a presentation.
According to a LifeWise survey of educators at schools with LifeWise programs, about three-quarters said students benefit from participation. According to a study by consulting firm Thomas P. Miller and Associates, schools with LifeWise programs saw better attendance and lower discipline issues. That study was sponsored by the Christian private equity firm Ambassador Enterprises, LLC.
Tanya Jones, superintendent of Tahlequah Public Schools, said the law left her district without a choice despite school board members’ opposition. LifeWise began its middle school program in late March.
“We do not approve LifeWise. It’s in state statute LifeWise can do the program at any place in Oklahoma,” Jones said. “I cannot stop that. A board member cannot stop that.”
Jones said the district was saddled with the responsibility of facilitating logistics for LifeWise, like coordinating which elective classes the students would miss one day a week — classes like art, choir or Cherokee culture.
She worries elective teachers will see what they do as less important than core subject teachers, and she is concerned for the success of programs like band and choir, which rely on student attendance to rehearse.
“If you are preparing for a band concert, it’s really hard to make up practice with the rest of the band. So many of those things are participation,” Jones said. “You’re just missing out on the experience, the practice and working with your teammates.”
Rader, the bill’s Senate author, said he did not see a disconnect with the long-held conservative ideal of “local control.”
“I thought we gave [districts] a lot of local control because they have to approve the curriculum and approve where they’re going,” Rader said. “And then we gave them the ability to have hands off — that once the child decided to do that, the school didn’t have to provide transportation and didn’t have to provide personnel. So, I thought it was pretty even-handed.”
Districts do not have approval power over released time course curriculum or the ability to approve where students go.
Rader said he was approached by Senate leadership to carry the bill and agreed. The bill began with different language related to school whistleblower protections but was shucked in late March and amended to address released time courses.
When the modified bill began to gain traction, groups against it spoke out. The Satanic Temple announced its Hellion Academy of Independent Learning (HAIL) was “coming soon” to Oklahoma. In the announcement, it said it believed public schools should be free of religious influence.
“Nevertheless, if other religious groups insist on forcing their way into our schools through legislation, we will ensure our members’ children enjoy the same opportunities as those of other religious backgrounds.”
The Satanic Temple did not return requests for comment on whether the HAIL program had started in any Oklahoma school.
Rachel Laser is the president and CEO of Americans United for Separation of Church and State. She said groups like LifeWise are wielding the law to further a Christian nationalist agenda.
“The end goal of the Christian nationalist movement is to either turn public schools into full-on Sunday schools or divert all public funds to private Christian schools,” Laser said. “And this is just another step forward in that agenda.”
Nationwide, about 850 schools have launched or are on track to launch LifeWise programs, according to LifeWise’s Jim Brown.
Twenty of those schools are in Oklahoma, and that number is expected to grow.
