About two dozen district parents coordinated their attendance at the Cazenovia Board of Education meeting last week in an effort to convince the board to change the district’s policy that allows for students to leave school to attend hour-long religious education classes at local churches.

This “religious release time,” as it is officially called, is not transparent in how it is administered, unfair to the students who do not attend it because they are not taught anything of value during that hour and should not take away learning time in a public education system, according to the parents’ complaints.

While a few parents at the meeting stood up to support religious release time and keep the program as it is, it was really a one-sided argument aimed at the school board.

“I propose that religious education be done outside of school — why does this really need to be connected to the school day?” asked parent Jeff McPhee. “Why not an after school program for religious time? It’s subsidized by my taxes.”

Parent Steve Sinkoff agreed. “The board should consider that there are 35 hours per year taken out of the students’ instruction who stay behind [by not attending religious release time]. It’s significant. That’s a week’s worth of their time. As a parent, I have serious concerns about that.”

Many parents who spoke said their children tell them they are “bored” during the hour of religious release time because they do nothing constructive in class during that hour; some parents complained that there is no information about the program on the district’s website and therefore there is no “transparency” by the district on the issue.

After the meeting, parent Xan Karn he and the other concerned parents “do not want a holy war on this; it’s just an educational issue for us.” He said they all know that religious release time is allowed by the state — and was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in the 1952 case Zorach v. Clauson — but the law also states that students who do not attend religious instruction “have the right to meaningful instruction.”

The board listened to the parents’ concerns during its public comment time and discussed the issue in detail during its “discussion items” time at the end of the meeting.

Superintendent Matt Reilly said the state commissioner of education has issued a regulation on this issue (8 NYCRR 109.2) which states that if a parent requests in writing that their child be allowed to attend religious education during the school day, a district is compelled to allow the absence for not more than one hour per week. Such religious education must occur outside of school buildings and grounds and must not create any cost to the district or taxpayers.

The students who stay behind in the classroom are also not allowed to be taught anything “new” by their teachers, because it would be unfair to the students at religious education.

According to school board President Pat Vogl, this issue of whether or not to have religious release time comes up “every four or five years” in Cazenovia.

All the board members agreed that the bigger issue to be discussed was about what goes on in the classroom for the students who do not attend religious education. Member Jan Woodworth said they heard anecdotal evidence both stating that students do nothing during that hour and that students achieve a lot of enrichment learning during that hour.

“How do we address making sure that something is going on?” she asked.

Reilly said he has already spoken to the various building principals on the issue, and he agrees that the district needs to make that classroom time “more consistent.”

“There’s plenty of learning that can and does go on,” he said. “Are we able to get the job done with our kids [under the current policy]? Yes. Can we do better? Absolutely.”

Board member Leigh Baldwin said the parents who spoke at the meeting “brought up some good points,” and suggested that the board seek further public comments on the issue.

Member Karin Marris said the district needs to follow the rules and regulations currently in place on the issue, and that the district should post those rules, regulations and program explanations on the district website so parents can have easy access to all the available information.

The rest of the board agreed with Marris’ suggestion, and Reilly said he would have all the information regarding religious release time posted on the district website as soon as possible.

Also at the meeting, the board:

—Began its meeting with members offering tributes and memories of their former colleague, Superintendent Robert Dubik, who passed away on Nov. 13. The board also asked all attendees to observe a moment of silence in honor of Dubik.

—Heard from Furlong that when the capital building improvement project begins in summer 2015, the high school will need to be shut down and personnel relocated to other district buildings due to safety issues. There will also be no academic or athletic groups meeting in the high school during this time. He said they hope to reopen the school by mid-August.

—Approved the 2015-16 district budget calendar, and heard from Assistant Superintendent Bill Furlong that the budget remains a work-in-progress.

—Approved a contract with Tetra Tech Architects and Engineers to make improvements to certain electrical components at Burton Street Elementary School at a fixed fee cost of $10,700.

—Accepted a $3,000 donation from the Cazenovia Youth Athletic Association to be used to purchase new uniforms for the girls’ and boys’ varsity basketball programs.

The next scheduled meeting of the board of education is 6:30 p.m., Monday, Dec. 15.

Jason Emerson is editor of the Cazenovia Republican. He can be reached at [email protected].