The Cazenovia Board of Education last week received the first “reading” of the proposed revision to the district’s religious release time policy for students who attend religious education during the school day. The changes in the policy do not effect whether or not the program will continue to exist — it must under state law — but rather how it is administered and how it ensures that all students in the district receive “appropriate educational opportunities” throughout the school day.
The revisions were crafted by a special Religious Release Time Study Group composed of community members, parents, teachers and administrators that have met multiple times since December. During the board’s April 20 regular monthly meeting, Superintendent Matt Reilly said the study group had many “good discussions” and kept their “focus on learning and what’s important during that [religious time] period.”
He said the group had come up with a series of recommendations for the school board to craft policy revisions that “best meet the needs of the students.”
Religious release time allows for students to leave school to attend hour-long religious education classes at local churches. The program has been around for decades, but last November about two dozen district parents attended the school board’s regular meeting asking for a change in the policy.
The parents complained that religious release time 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.
Reilly said at that time that state education regulations require the district to allow students to attend religious education during the school day, for not more than one hour per week, if parents request it. Such religious education must occur outside of school buildings and grounds and must not create any cost to the district or taxpayers. Students who do not participate in the religious release program must “participate in appropriate educational activities” while their classmates are out of class.
Due to the interest by the community in the issue, which spanned two regular meetings of the board of education and created what Reilly called “spirited discussion” by the public, Reilly organized the study group to discuss and debate the policy and come up with potential changes.
Reilly said the study group “met with some surprises along the way,” and that the district administrative team wanted some changes to the policy, specifically so that all students who did not attend the program were engaged in educational activities during religious release time.
The revisions included some changes to language, or stricken language, for portions that were outdated, inaccurate or muddled. It also included a rewrite to make clear that program decisions such as those about the program calendar were discussions between church officials and the superintendent, and were not simply churches making proposals and the district obliging them, Reilly said.
The “first reading” of the revised policy was only the first in multiple potential readings of the policy, and Reilly asked the board members to read it carefully and offer any comments or questions they may have. Changes can still be made to the recommended revision, he said.
Board members voiced support for the revised policy. “This is really well done,” said member Cindy Bell Tobey.
“We came up with what we felt was the best language to offer,” said member Karin Marris.
Board President Pat Vogl said the policy revision was created “the way things should be done” with interaction from all district stakeholders.
Vogl said the religious release time policy revision would be on the agenda for th eboard’s next regular meeting on May 19.
More information on religious release time in the Cazenovia district, including the school board’s policy, the state education commissioner’s policy, the 1994 court decision of St. James Church v. Board of Education of the Cazenovia Central School District and a “Release Time Q and A” from the district, can be found on the district website at cazenoviacsd.com.
Also at the meeting, the board:
—Updated its out-of-district tuition rate to increase at the same rate as the district budget, 1.37 percent. Tuition rates for the 2015-16 year will be $3,218 for students in kindergarten through sixth grade and $4,223 for students in seventh through 12th grades.
—Heard from district tech administrator Chris Hennigan, who gave a presentation about the future technology purchases in the district. Hennigan said district will move forward over the next two years with purchasing more Chromebooks for district students, including for the entire fourth and seventh grade classes in 2015-16, for the entire fifth grade class in 2016-17 and for high school English classes during both years. The Chromebooks will replace desktop computers in the district.
—Accepted two monetary donations to the district from local organizations. The Cazenovia Athletic Association donated $2,847 to install two flagpoles and purchase two nylon flags for Fenner Fields. Cazenovia Youth Lacrosse donated $450 to replace netting on lacrosse goals.
—Authorized the purchase of a new lawn mower for $56,302 to be financed over not more than four years.
Jason Emerson is editor of the Cazenovia Republican. He can be reached at [email protected].
