The 33-page bill, which incorporates other public school funding initiatives, includes language that stipulates that principals must excuse students for up to four hours of religious instruction per week.
One of the primary sponsors of the bill is Republican State Senator Michael Lee, who represents most of New Hanover County. The bill, SB 1006, was filed at the end of April and initially did not include the section on “released time religious instruction” until June 3.
The bill's fate could significantly impact the school's pending decision over whether to sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Lifewise, a controversial program that takes students off campus for Biblical instruction, which has been rapidly expanding across the country.
Republican Board Chair Pete Wildedoer told his colleagues that Lee told him that the passage of the bill was likely “two weeks out” from passing.
His Republican colleague Pat Bradford said that if SB 1006 were successful, then decisions about how to handle religious programs like LifeWise would “be taken out of our control.”
Bradford added if the public wanted to learn more about LifeWise that she had been to a “beautiful film” about the program at a local church — and that another screening was coming soon to another church off Eastwood Road.
Libertarian board member David Perry said of SB 1006, “We were planning on deciding whether we should allow this or not, now it seems like the state government, yet again, is trying to micromanage our school district. It seems to be a favorite pastime.”
While the proposed bill does stipulate that local school boards “shall adopt a policy that requires a school principal to excuse a student’s absence to attend” a private religious program, Democratic board member Dr. Tim Merrick reiterated that it wouldn’t necessarily stipulate using NHCS staff time to organize transportation for the program.
Superintendent Dr. Christopher Barnes brought the public’s attention to an “implied burden if kids are leaving randomly throughout the week. I need to keep track of what Tim missed, and what Pat missed, and what Judy missed, and then I'm trying to catch everybody back up, so I think that that's sort of a misunderstood thing here.”
Barnes added that his original memo about the LifeWise program was sent to the North Carolina School Boards Association and The School Superintendents Association for feedback and further guidance.
Wildeboer said he also reached out to Lee about “what kind of message are we sending because of education, art, music,” implying that those are important classes for students to attend, and which LifeWise — or other similar programs — could preempt.
Bradford reiterated that the bill could be “modified and amended until the cows come home, so there's no point in getting excited about what it says here, because we can't control it, and it could change radically between now and when they finally pass a budget.”
Ultimately, the board agreed that, if the General Assembly passes the bill, they would still hold a public hearing on a possible LifeWise Academy MOU and that Barnes would give a 10-minute presentation explaining the legislation beforehand.
Merrick asked if Barnes could send out a memorandum explaining it even before it’s passed. Barnes responded that wouldn’t be the best course of action because, “I don't want the legislature to feel like we are trying to [have an] impact on our public [and] what we feel like they should do or shouldn’t do,” he then jokingly said, “just thinking of longevity for your superintendent.”
He added that if the public had concerns about the religious education instructional time exemption, that they could go to “our legislature, because I don't want this board to get hung by a decision that gets made at the legislative level. Obviously, regardless of what you put into board policy, this group here that works with me has to follow general statute.”
In addition to the recurring weekly excused absences for up to four hours of religious education, Barnes said that SB 1006 had other provisions that outline specifics about educators taking on advanced teaching roles, for which there are stipends, and a study for community colleges and public schools can collaborate on course development,
The bill also includes a $10 million allocation for student academic support via artificial intelligence provided by Khan Academy.
