Despite a 2019 law allowing students to leave campus for religious instruction, many Alabama school districts lack policies permitting it. Rep. Susan DuBose, R-Hoover, wants to change that.
Her House Bill 342, would require school boards to adopt policies allowing religious release time, an option she says parents want but schools too often reject.
“Parents are being told, ‘We don’t have a policy,’” DuBose told the House Education Policy Committee recently. “And the conversation ends there.”
Sen. Shay Shelnutt, R-Trussville, is sponsoring a companion Senate Bill 229.
Both bills build on the Alabama Released Time Credit Act of 2019, which allowed — but did not require — school districts to develop policies permitting students to attend religious classes off campus during school hours. The law also said schools could give elective credit if coursework met certain requirements.
But some questioned the need and motivation for the bill.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Trisha Powell Crain and originally published by Alabama Daily News.
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