When the lunch bell rings, a student makes her way to a big red bus while her classmates prepare to eat. She’s transported to a nearby church, where she’ll learn about Noah and his ark. Once the lesson is over, she’s driven back to school and returns to class.
That’s the setup for LifeWise Academy, a Christian education program making a push into three Maryland school districts. The Ohio-based nonprofit is already in 34 states, ferrying thousands of kids from public schools to Bible classes during the school day.
In Harford County, it has the support of two school board members, including Melissa Hahn.
“I know several people whose lives were transformed by programs like LifeWise when they were in elementary school,” she said in an email.
Efforts are underway to launch LifeWise in Anne Arundel and Montgomery counties, though they’re likely to face an uphill battle. While local school boards will have the final say, system officials have raised concerns about logistics and safety, and some community groups worry it could create division among students, blurring the boundaries between church and state.
The LifeWise model is legal thanks to a 1952 U.S. Supreme Court case in which justices ruled that public schools must release students, with consent from their parents, during school hours for off-campus religious instruction.
The nonprofit’s formula is to schedule the Bible lessons during lunch or an elective period and provide its own transportation, typically a distinctive red bus. School systems determine how often the students get picked up. That makes it easier for families to manage school and extracurriculars, said Corrine Williams, a spokesperson for LifeWise.
“Many parents value having Bible-based character education during the school day, as they see positive results in both academic performance and behavior inside and outside the classroom,” Williams said in an email.
It’s not a new concept, she noted. Kids have been excused from class for religious practice before on a smaller scale, “but LifeWise provides a replicable model that can be implemented by any community nationwide,” she said.
The nonprofit was founded in 2018 and quickly expanded from the Midwest to the East and West coasts by 2024. Its website states the program was running in 1,100 schools as of August, and tax forms show the nonprofit earned $35 million in 2024.
LifeWise’s recommended curriculum isn’t associated with a specific denomination, the nonprofit said, though it was produced by a group linked to the Southern Baptist Convention. It walks students through the entire Bible, tying each passage to a specific character trait, a curriculum sample states.
LifeWise outlines a 10-step process for communities to bring the model to their school districts. Groups in Anne Arundel, Harford and Montgomery counties are on step No. 6. They’ve gathered signatures, raised money for materials and staff, and created a steering committee.
Pastor Steve Hofmeister, head of the steering committee for LifeWise in Harford County, said his group has gathered 270 signatures. He’s been advocating to bring the program to Harford since last year and said they’ve had “preliminary conversations” with Harford school officials and board members, though LifeWise has yet to be discussed at a board meeting.
The next step is approval from the school board. Maryland doesn’t have specific laws about religious release time from school, so it’s up to board members to decide what’s appropriate for their system.
A spokesperson for Montgomery County Public Schools declined to comment on efforts to bring LifeWise to the district, and Anne Arundel County Public Schools officials did not return a request for comment.
But, in Harford County, Hahn and fellow school board member Diane Alvarez were convinced by LifeWise’s pitch. Alvarez said she was particularly intrigued by the nonprofit’s report that its program improves attendance, behavior and academics within four years.
However, she has lingering concerns, including how it would guarantee students’ safety while they’re off campus. She also isn’t sure having it during the school day is a possibility. Students’ schedules are packed, and she’d have a “major concern” if LifeWise interfered with reading, writing or math.
Board member Carol Mueller said she would not support pulling kids out of class for religious instruction. The rest of the board did not respond to requests for comment.
Some school system officials and community members are pumping the brakes.
Harford County Public Schools spokesperson Jillian Lader said religious instruction must happen after school. She said school board members should consider system officials’ input before voting to implement LifeWise.
“Confusion could be caused by a Board vote to adopt a program without verification of operational capabilities,” she said in an email.
DeLane Lewis, president of Together We Will-Harford County, which advocates for social and racial justice, said LifeWise could create “a divide between those children who leave and those who stay.” Religious education, she said, should be something families do on their own time.
“They could do whatever they want after school, but that’s not what the goal is here,” she said. “The goal is to disrupt public education, to further undermine it with a religious intent, prioritizing religion over public education.”
Williams, the LifeWise spokesperson, said that’s not the case. The nonprofit sees public educators as heroes and wants to work alongside teachers and administrators to improve students’ character development, mental health and academic achievement, she said.
That’s not how Zachary Parrish sees it. LifeWise was added to his daughter’s class schedule in 2021 when she attended an Ohio district where religious release time is a requirement.
When he opted her out, she was placed in “uninstructed study hall.” Feeling discriminated against, they changed schools, and Parrish helped start Secular Education Association with Ohio resident Molly Gaines to oppose what their 8,500 Facebook group members see as pressure for children to conform to Christian ideals.
What frustrates Parrish and Gaines about school districts partnering with LifeWise, Gaines said, is the inequality.
“How do your Sikh neighbors feel. How do your Buddhist neighbors feel. How do your Jewish kids feel?” she asked. “This is not OK.”
About the Education Hub
This reporting is part of The Banner’s Education Hub, community-funded journalism that provides parents with resources they need to make decisions about how their children learn. Read more.
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