The Alabama House on Tuesday (March 31) passed a bill that clarifies how public school students can participate in off-campus religious instruction during the school day.
Senate Bill 248, sponsored by Sen. Shay Shelnutt, R-Trussville, was heavily revised in both chambers to address concerns that stalled similar legislation last year. The House-passed version now returns to the Senate for concurrence.
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State law already allows school boards to adopt a policy allowing off-campus religious instruction.
Parental permission
The bill further outlines how those programs could operate with parental permission. Changes the House Education Policy committee made continue to leave local school boards the choice of whether to adopt a policy allowing the program.
Under the bill, the religious instruction programs would have to be privately funded and held off school grounds, and students would be responsible for making up any missed classwork.
A local board of education could refuse to allow a student to participate if the board has determined the program would cause physical harm to the student or if the sponsoring entity is in violation of state law.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Trisha Powell Crain and originally published by the Alabama Daily News.
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