ICC Note: As previously reported, a school district in Michigan recently banned students from attending an off-campus, voluntary Bible class during their lunch hour. However, after closely reviewing the complaint, the school district has now decided to again give students the option to attend the optional class. This program is held once a month by a local church and students are only able to attend with written permission from their parents.

By Heather Clark

06/06/2017 United States (Christian News Network) – A school district in Michigan plans to again allow students to leave school during lunchtime for off-site voluntary religious instruction after reviewing the details of the matter following a complaint.

“We temporarily canceled the program while we reviewed parts of the program,” Fremont Public Schools Superintendent Ken Haggart told MLive. “We believe that we were doing nothing wrong.”

As previously reported, the Fremont Wesleyan Church has been offering the Bible Release Time program for Daisy Brook Elementary School students, a 45-minute class that is optional and only for those whose parents have signed a written permission form.

The program, led by John Perkins, is held once a month during the lunch period, and the church transports students to and from the study. An estimated 100 children attend.

“Bible Release Time is a program permitted by Michigan law, whereby children are released from school classes during school hours to attend religious instruction at a nearby location,” read a flyer sent home to parents with the permission slip.

However, the Michigan Association of Civil Rights Activists (MACRA) recently contacted the district to assert that the school’s role in offering the program to students unlawfully promotes Christianity and thus violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.

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