LifeWise Academy will be in nearly half of Ohio school districts this school year
LifeWise Academy, a controversial Hilliard-based religious instruction program, will be in almost half of Ohio’s public school districts this school year.
The academy will now be in 613 Ohio schools in 303 school districts for the 2025-26 school year, said Christine Czernejewski, a spokesperson for LifeWise.
Back in January, LifeWise was in about 160 Ohio school districts — a nearly 90% increase since the start of the calendar year.
The academy’s new count comes after a new law took effect in April that requires Ohio school districts to have a religious-release time policy. The previous law merely permitted a policy.
“While the recent clarification in Ohio law has helped reinforce districts’ ability to offer release-time religious instruction, the growth is primarily driven by increased demand from families across the state,” Czernejewski said. “Communities have been proactively bringing LifeWise to their local schools because they understand the positive impact of Bible education during school hours.”
LifeWise operates in 34 states and plans to enroll nearly 100,000 students this year, according to its website.
“Demand for LifeWise is surging, and we couldn’t be more excited to see families taking advantage of our programming, from urban areas to remote towns,” said CEO Joel Penton.
The non-denominational Christian program teaches the Bible to public school students during the school day, and started in Ohio in 2019. The courses usually take place during lunch or during elective courses.
But LifeWise has many critics and parents have said their students have been ostracized and bullied for not taking part in LifeWise.
“These kids are affected when they don’t go,” said Zachary Parrish, a parent who had LifeWise file a lawsuit against him for copyright infringement. “They feel left out. They don’t understand why their parents aren’t letting them go.”
Parrish now lives in Fort Wayne, Indiana, but his daughter was a second-grader in Defiance City Schools in 2021 and he is not surprised Ohio has seen such an uptick in districts offering the religious classes.
“They’ve been in Ohio the longest,” he said. “They’ve got the most connections in Ohio. It’s where the organization is from. It’s where all the leadership is from. So it doesn’t surprise me that Ohio is the hotbed for it.”
Religious instruction under the law
The United States Supreme Court upheld release time laws during the 1952 Zorach v. Clauson case, which allowed a school district to have students leave school for part of the day to receive religious instruction.
Religious release time instruction must meet three criteria: the courses must take place off school property, be privately funded and students must have parental permission.
Tina Sobo, a rabbi at Temple Israel Dayton and mom of two students in Miamisburg Schools, said students in her congregation have heard antisemitic comments from their classmates when they return from LifeWise.
“The curriculum teaches that because my kids are Jewish and don’t believe in Jesus, we’re going to hell … And touching on just some of the low-level antisemitism, just really more ignorant type comments,” she said. “It’s a very specific version of Christianity that, I think, goes against, in my opinion, goals of creating an inclusive, positive religious environment in America.”
LifeWise, which started in Miamisburg in January, “unequivocally condemns antisemitism or any form of harassment or discrimination,” Czernejewski said.
“Our mission is to provide Bible-based character education,” she said. “If any student were to make inappropriate or hurtful remarks toward their peers, whether inside or outside of school, that behavior would be inconsistent with what LifeWise teaches.”
Rachel Evans, a mom of a student in Centerville City Schools, does not want to send her son to LifeWise because their family is Jewish. LifeWise is launching in Centerville this month.
“You have these kids who are taught that they need to save people because they’re taught that hell is just the worst place you could go,” she said. “And they’re really trying to help their friends, but that can be really damaging to a kid.”
Hearing LifeWise is in almost half of Ohio’s school districts makes Evans scared for her son’s future.
“I have had past experiences where I was proselytized to at a very young age and it’s not a good feeling,” she said. “The whole point of it is to disrupt the school day. … There are so many other times when this would be appropriate, and I think during the school day is not it.”
Follow Capital Journal Reporter Megan Henry on Bluesky.
Ohio Capital Journal is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Ohio Capital Journal maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor David Dewitt for questions: info@ohiocapitaljournal.com.