COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Religious release time program LifeWise may be in nearly every Franklin County public school district by the end of this year.
Hilliard-based LifeWise is one of the nation’s most prolific Released Time for Religious Instruction programs. The biblical education group provides off-campus religious instruction to public school students during the school day, with parental permission.
LifeWise began in just a handful of Ohio schools but has expanded to 34 states and 100,000 students. A LifeWise spokesperson attributed the growth to the benefits of Bible-based education and said 613 schools across 304 districts will have LifeWise this year, nearly half of Ohio’s 611 districts.
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During the 2024-2025 school year, several central Ohio school districts barred LifeWise from their districts, arguing the program was distracting or disruptive. Ohio law now requires all districts to allow students to leave for RTRI, a change implemented last April. This legislative change leaves few school districts that do not participate in LifeWise, and nearly all Franklin County districts said they could have students participating by the end of the year…