Kentucky Citizens for Democracy

RTRI

Board Member Email Addresses

Sample letter to Oldham County Schools

Dear Oldham County School Board Members,

I am a (parent, step-parent, grandparent, etc.) of (insert # of students and school names) here in Oldham County.  I recently learned about the proposal LifeWise Academy submitted to the OC School Board to allow them to deliver bible-based moral education during instructional hours to elementary school children in our district.  I understand the school board is currently seeking guidance on how to create a moral education policy so that this proposal from LifeWise can be reviewed properly.

I am writing to you to share many of the concerns I have after looking into LifeWise.  These concerns have led me to believe they are not a good fit for Oldham County schools. Below are the top ten:

1. This occurs during the school day; pulling kids out of class during the day causes a disruption for ALL students in the class, taking attention away from valuable instruction time. 

2. Assistance from administration, staff, and teachers will be needed to move kids into and out of school to attend LifeWise. That is a demand on tax-funded resources to support religious education.

3. Reviewing the program in Ohio shows it affects ALL students because, as it grows, the scheduling issues lead to kids who don’t participate being placed in study-hall or given non-instructional busy work, again taking away from valuable instruction time. 

4. The Southern Baptist Convention-based curriculum both disproves their claims of interdenominational teachings and teaches anti-LGBTQ+ and anti-alternate family structure views that have led to bullying incidents and marginalization of children already at higher risk of such things from their peers. This has also been documented in OH.

5. LifeWise teaches views on things like evolution and when the extinction of dinosaurs occurred that are not in alignment with a science-based curriculum. An odd thing to include in the middle of the secular school day, and has nothing to do with “moral” instruction.

6. LifeWise’s mission is to target impressionable ages 4 to 14 of the “unchurched” for religious instruction using the public school as its “mission field.” They use rewards such as candy and ice cream parties to encourage the kids who participate to recruit their friends and classmates at school to join. Using peer pressure as evangelism against children in school, where they are required to be by law, is an infringement on those children’s rights to be free of religious coercion.

7. LifeWise brings in $35.3 million in annual revenue, but only spends half on instruction services. There is no transparency into their funding sources because the majority comes from donor-advised funds groups like American Endowment Foundation ($13.5 million last year), which allows donors to funnel large sums of money anonymously with no way to trace it. We should not open up our school to privately funded organizations that have their own agenda.

8. The Board’s mission is to advance public education. LifeWise’s supporters are strong advocates of voucher programs and privatization of education, which is not in line with that mission. Both KY and OC voted against Amendment 2 to prevent that from occurring here, 64% and 61% of the vote, respectively. 

9. Despite the Supreme Court ruling, a legitimate concern about the erosion of the separation of church and state exists when religious instruction is inserted into the public school day. Zorach v. Clauson only spoke to the constitutionality of release time for religious instruction; it did not mandate it. States and local school boards (as stated in KRS 158.200) still have the power to make that decision.

10. OC schools do not have the rampant behavior or low attendance issues that this program claims to address, and our teachers are well-versed in providing moral instruction throughout their lessons. So, what problem are they trying to solve in OC schools? Also, the study used to support their claims of positive impacts has not been peer-reviewed, and their curriculum and teaching methods are not peer-reviewed or research-based either.

Oldham County schools are a point of pride, drawing many to join our community.  Partnering with LifeWise risks that reputation by interrupting essential periods like lunch, recess, or related arts for religious instruction, which is inherently divisive in nature due to our diverse community.  Given that the board is not mandated to approve any moral instruction program, and the issues outlined above, I strongly believe LifeWise is not a fit for our school district.

I urge you to consider the points above and how they relate to the mission of Oldham County schools: Students access learning in a safe and supportive environment, feel valued as individuals, and contribute to a culture of belonging where differences are accepted.  Given that mission, it is clear that it is in the best interest of all students to refrain from opening our school district to any program offering moral instruction during the school day.

Sincerely,