Respect Public Schools

08/22/2026

Lifewise’s legal counsel, First Liberty, sought to eliminate protections for children and sued a district that enforced safety standards for removing students from school.

08/19/2026

I had a great conversation with Doug. We discussed several areas related to released time and Lifewise Academy. A longer version will be released later. Give this a listen. Let us know your thoughts.

Lifewise Academy has matured into the Christian Nationalist indoctrination machine we all warned about in 2024 when its friends in the Ohio legislature forced it on Ohio public schools. Our guest Keith Comer has the receipts https://podfollow.com/glass-city-humanist

08/19/2026

Lifewise Academy in the Buckeye Central Local district (Ohio) posted the full names of all the students who had signed up on their van at the open house event. This event was in downtown next to an ice cream stand. Then they posted the photo on Facebook so everyone can see who was or wasn’t signed up.

I can’t answer if they blurred or removed students names whose parents did not consent to their child’s images being used for promotional purposes. Either way this is an invasion of privacy and exposing a child’s religious beliefs should be questioned. Kathy Green posted the photos. She also attended the last 3 years of Lifewise trainings. Clearly they didn’t cover internet safety during the trainings.

This is stupid, even for Lifewise.

08/15/2026

Bible classes in the public schools often violate federal and state laws because the Christian groups that operate them don’t tell the full truth about the court cases and local laws. Half-truths lead to half-legal programs. This graphic from the Secular Education Association (SEA) is a great one to share with your board of education and school administrators. It will help them understand the full requirements of the Supreme Court cases on released time.

Know your and your child’s rights when it comes to public schools and religious classes. These aren’t history or informational classes. These are religious services with prayer and a call to accept the faith into your life.

Make sure you follow SEA on Facebook.

Original SEA post.
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/19QNfDmYLh/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Supreme Court Case Zorach v. Clauson
https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/343/306/

If you have questions please reach out.

08/14/2026

UPDATE on Conotton Valley.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation has sent a letter to the Conotton Valley Union Local School District, informing them that they are illegally allowing a religious education program to operate on school property and directing them to cease its operation.

Read more about Conotton Valley and their coordination with a Christian ministry being allowed to operate on school property at https://stack.respectpublicschools.com/p/school-district-endorses-christian

08/12/2026

Conotton Valley Union Local School District, Imagine Ministries, and School Ministries Ohio have all coordinated to break Ohio law, United States Supreme Court rulings, and district policies.

Allowing a Christian ministry to operate on school property during the school day.

Allowing Christian studnets to skip to the front of the lunch line.

Allowing volunteers on school property who could not be background checked.

Allowing a Christian ministry to pass out materials and attend school events.

So many school policies are being violated along with Ohio and federal case law.

https://stack.respectpublicschools.com/p/school-district-endorses-christian

08/08/2026

Lifewise says student safety is the organization's highest priority. The “LifeWise Vehicle Driver Screening” form states someone may drive students once without completing a full background check.

Read the full article at
https://stack.respectpublicschools.com/p/lifewise-academy-loophole-allows

08/03/2026

Lifewise Academy is a Christian ministry whose goal is to reach unchurched studnets by taking advantage of compulsory public school attendance. Students leave the school, attend a period of religious service, and then return to school. The Supreme Court has upheld this practice, and many states have laws defining its operation.

Lifewise Academy describes itself as a grass-roots initiative to bring the bible into local public schools. The initial step of opening a Lifewise franchise in a school district is to gather 50 signatures from local individuals who wish to see the program operate in the local schools. Lifewise will sometimes use the line “if you live, work, or worship” in a school district; you should sign the list. The Lifewise website no longer has this language.

There has never been any requirement for Lifewise to gather signatures. No laws or policies. It was simply a way to rally local support, give a simple task to local individuals, and gauge the return on investment in an area. According to Lifewise documentation, when the 50-signature mark is met, Lifewise will engage its resources from the corporate office to start working wth local individuals and walk through the rest of the 10-step process to launch Lifewise in the school district.

But in practice, Lifewise does not wait for the 50 signatures before initiating the process of creating and launching a program. Emails from Lifewise corporate prove the signature requirements are not a required rule.

The theory behind the signature lists is to prove local community support for removing studnets from classes and forcing schools to coordinate with a ministry. Oftentimes the lists are provided to the local Board of Education to help with the narrative that the community is behind the program. Lifewise will suggest people sign other communities’ lists to get to the 50 mark even though there is no official requirement.

The CEO of Lifewise says anyone with a pulse should sign the list. They pulled the numbers out of thin air.

The number of signatures in support of Lifewise for a school district should not be used in any way as a gauge of the program's status. There are dozens of programs that have launched with fewer than 50 signatures. It only takes a couple of people with enough ambition and money to start the process. Many programs launch and only serve a single child.

If you or your organization is using the signature count to gauge the status of the effort to bring Lifewise into a district, you should assume the process is further along than stated. Providing facts about Lifewise, the state laws, and school policy requirements are the best ways to start educating the district and public about Lifewise.

Full article:
https://stack.respectpublicschools.com/p/lifewise-local-signature-campaigns

08/01/2026

If an organization refuses to operate outside of scheduled educational time, they are not trying to support students, they are supporting their own selfish agenda. Every time an after school program or end of the day program is offered, Lifewise refuses. The ability to use K-5 grade students to proselytize is significantly reduced with after school or end of the day programs.

07/31/2026

Lifewise Academy says Public Schools are Dark Places

Lifewise Academy created a Facebook group for its North Carolina programs to share information. North Carolina State Director Christy Smith posted a video explaining the group and its rules. One rule is to speak respectfully about schools, teachers, and administrators. The group is monitored by corporate, and the official Lifewise Academy Facebook account is listed as an Admin of the group.

A few days later, an interview with Lifewise Academy COO Steve Clifton was posted on YouTube. Clifton referred to public schools as “dark places” and said, “the lights aren’t on.” 90% of students attend public schools. If an interview with the COO can’t be posted in the group, that is all you need to know about Lifewise. The Lifewise State Director had to make the post, indicating they anticipated people saying unkind things about public schools. The majority of churchgoers also attend public schools. Speaking badly about the schools is speaking badly about the teachers and staff who run them. These are the same people who attend churches. Lifewise CEO Joel Penton joked about abolishing public schools. From the top down, Lifewise views public schools as harmful.

Never mind that Lifewise has hired staff who were later convicted of abusing minors. Lifewise serves 62,000 students out of the 50+ million in the country, 0.1% of students, yet it still acts like public schools are a scourge on society. Lifewise fought in court to block the release of documents indicating Lifewise completed full background checks on staff. The hypocrisy at Lifewise is thick.

https://stack.respectpublicschools.com/p/lifewise-admits-it-didnt-follow-school

https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/2026/06/02/ohio-men-previously-involved-with-lifewise-academy-charged-with-sex-crimes-involving-minors/

Lifewise is using the public schools, not helping them.