INDIANAPOLIS – After months of debate over where to draw lines between church and state, Indiana lawmakers approved a bill to guarantee students’ access to religious instruction Nixed from legislation, however, was a contentious provision to bring paid chaplains into Indiana’s public schools.
House Bill 1137 requires schools to approve parental requests for students to leave class during the day for religious instruction. The proposal received final House approval on Thursday and is expected to get the green light from the Senate on Friday morning.
The bill aims to tighten existing Indiana law that already permits students to leave school for up to 120 minutes a week for voluntary religious instruction, as long as it takes place off school property.
A 1952 U.S. Supreme Court ruling affirmed that“released time” programs are constitutional nationwide. As such, Hoosier parents can request religious instruction time for their children, but school administrators do not have to approve.
Under the House bill, that “veto power” over the parent goes away.
When a parent of a public school student provides a written request, the principal “shall” allow the student to attend outside religious instruction that is organized by a church or religious organization. The legislation also says a school principal must work “in a collaborative manner” with the parent to find the best time during the school day for a student to leave the school.
Even so, Democrats — including Rep. Ed Delaney of Indianapolis — said they didn’t think a third party should dictate when kids are released from school.
“This bill goes too far,” Delaney said, adding that organized, out-of-school programming would be “disruptive to the learning environment.”
Read the entire Casey Smith story for Indiana Capital Chronicle, here.