In your view, how much religious instruction should be allowed during regular public school hours? Please explain your views on when and where religious education should take place.

TL;DR: Public dollars provide public goods; public schools should provide a secular education. Curricula that are not aligned with providing community-driven, universal skills and knowledge should not count as time-in-schoool. While we will comply with state law, I will not support expanding these programs beyond what is legally required. Our focus must remain on our core educational mission of building the skills needed to flourish in adulthood.

In my view, the role of a public school is to provide a secular education that equips every student with the universally accepted knowledge and skills needed to thrive. Religious instruction is not an educational activity sanctioned by the district. It is not equivalent to a school field trip, externship, or any other activity aligned with our community-driven strategic plan. So, while a family always retains the right to pull their child from school for any reason, if a family opts to send their child for religious instruction during the school day, this must be recorded as an absence from school. 

In my opinion, state laws that mandate we count a student as present for this activity, despite the instruction being off-campus, using a curriculum we don't control, and taught by teachers we don't hire, are fundamentally inconsistent with the principle of home rule. For those unfamiliar with the term, Ohio is a “home rule state.” That means the School Board, as your locally-elected legislative body, gets to make the governing rules (aka policies) for our district. The state telling us how we define "present in school." Furthermore, the state also egregiously oversteps when it mandates we allow students to bring religious artifacts or materials from this off-campus instruction back into the school.

Critically, this position is not a judgment on the value of religious education, but a clear definition of our responsibility as a public school system. To me, our community-developed strategic plan prepares students to be "thinkers and doers" who are ready to launch into the world. We achieve this by focusing on a curriculum for all students that improves student engagement, empowers them to solve real-world challenges, and provides a rich, holistic experience through programs in leadership development, the arts, technology, and service learning. We are dedicated to building universal skills like empathy and critical thinking, which are essential for solving universal problems like unsustainable debt and substance use.

While we are guided by our strategic plan, we will always follow the law. Of course I support our compliance with this mandate. And, as a board member, I believe our focus and resources must remain dedicated to our core educational mission. Therefore, I will not support any proactive expansion of religious programs beyond what is legally required, so we can stay true to the strategic goals our community has set for our students.