Education bills on school-day absences for religious instruction and student cell phone access will soon swap chambers. (Leslie Bonilla Muñiz/Indiana Capital Chronicle)
The Indiana General Assembly’s two chambers on Tuesday passed a pair of education bills — including a proposal requiring schools to let students out of school for religious instruction — alongside a health care merger measure.
State statute currently allows students to leave school for up to 120 minutes a week for religious instruction organized by a church or religious organization. That’s as long as instruction takes place off school premises, the religious organizations provide private transportation and no tax dollars for used throughout.
But schools don’t have to approve parental requests.
Rep. Kendell Culp, R-Rensselaer, speaks on the House floor on Thursday, Jan. 25, 2024. (Leslie Bonilla Muñiz/Indiana Capital Chronicle)
Rep. Kendell Culp, R-Rensselaer, seeks to change that through House Bill 1137 . He said, under the new legislation, “the principal and the parents or the entity providing instruction must work in a collaborative manner” to find the best time during the school day for the student to leave the school.