Board shelves plan for religion classes

We applaud the Rock Hill school board for backing off a proposal for students to be given an option to leave school with an excused absence for religious instruction. We think that was the right decision – even if nearly all School Improvement Councils had not roundly opposed the plan.

Under the proposal, students would have been permitted to leave for the religion classes during an elective class period one day a week. They would not have been allowed to skip core courses such as math, English, science or social studies, but could have skipped an elective class to go to off-campus religious classes.

In April, when the plan was introduced by board member Walter Brown with the support of Superintendent Kelly Pew, the board narrowly approved it on a 4-3 vote. But the issue was tabled in May after Board Chairman Jim Vining said he could not support it without first conducting a survey of SIC members to determine their views.

The survey of SIC panels, which are made up of parents and school staff at each school, found that 77 percent opposed off-campus religious study during the school day. The survey also found that 80 percent opposed students being excused from an elective class to receive religious instruction.

Of the few panels that did not outright oppose the plan, most were evenly split on the issue.

It also turns out that this proposal was driven largely by a nonprofit group called School Ministries of Rock Hill Inc., which is affiliated with the national School Ministries Inc. The group provided the school board with a list of churches it said supported the plan, but two on the list – Oakland Avenue Presbyterian and First Baptist – said they had not been consulted before being added to the list.

It appears that this proposal is more the result of a campaign by a single nonprofit than by any groundswell of support among local churches. In any event, we see no reason to schedule religious instruction during the school day.

Religious classes can play a useful role in the lives of young people. But there is ample time for such instruction outside of school hours without disrupting the regular school schedule. Students also can attend religion classes during summer vacation.

And let’s not shortchange the value of elective classes. That class time can be used for studies such as art, chorus, orchestra, drama or other academic electives, which often can be among the most inspirational in a student’s educational career.

The proposed religious classes also would have been difficult to pull off logistically. With the time it would have taken to pick up and transport students to the classes and then bring them back to school, not much time would have been left for instruction.

Considering that and the overwhelming opposition from the SIC panels, we think the board was right to drop the proposal. Again, while religious instruction can benefit children, families should provide it on their own time.

This story was originally published October 25, 2016 at 6:22 PM with the headline "Board shelves plan for religion classes."