As Reported by the Senate Education Committee

130th General Assembly
Regular Session
2013-2014
Sub. H. B. No. 171


Representatives McClain, Patmon 

Cosponsors: Representatives Amstutz, Beck, Becker, Buchy, Burkley, Derickson, Hall, Hayes, Henne, Hill, Hood, Huffman, Retherford, Smith, Thompson, Wachtmann, Bishoff, Barnes, Blair, Boose, Brown, Butler, Conditt, Dovilla, Green, Grossman, Hackett, Hagan, C., Hottinger, Lynch, Milkovich, Pelanda, Roegner, Romanchuk, Scherer, Sears, Slaby, Sprague, Stebelton, Terhar, Young Speaker Batchelder 



A BILL
To enact section 3313.6022 of the Revised Code to 1
permit public school students to attend and 2
receive credit for released time courses in 3
religious instruction conducted off school 4
property during regular school hours.5


BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:

       Section 1. That section 3313.6022 of the Revised Code be 6
enacted to read as follows:7

       Sec. 3313.6022.  (A) As used in this section, "released time" 8
means a period of time during which a student is excused from 9
school to attend a course in religious instruction conducted by a 10
private entity off school district property.11

       (B) A school district board of education may adopt a policy 12
that authorizes a student to be excused from school to attend a 13
released time course in religious instruction, provided that each 14
of the following applies:15

       (1) The student's parent or guardian gives written consent.16

       (2) The sponsoring entity maintains attendance records and 17
makes them available to the school district the student attends.18

       (3) Transportation to and from the place of instruction, 19
including transportation for students with disabilities, is the 20
complete responsibility of the sponsoring entity, parent, 21
guardian, or student.22

       (4) The sponsoring entity makes provisions for and assumes 23
liability for the student.24

       (5) No public funds are expended and no public school 25
personnel are involved in providing the religious instruction.26

       (6) The student assumes responsibility for any missed 27
schoolwork.28

       While in attendance in a released time course in religious 29
instruction, a student shall not be considered absent from school. 30
No student may be released from a core curriculum subject course 31
to attend a religious instruction course.32

       (C) A policy adopted under division (B) of this section may 33
authorize high school students to earn up to two units of high 34
school credit for the completion of a released time course in 35
religious instruction. In determining whether to award credit for 36
completion of such a course, the board shall evaluate the course 37
based on purely secular criteria that are substantially the same 38
criteria used to evaluate similar nonpublic high school courses 39
for purposes of determining whether to award credit for such 40
courses to a student transferring from a nonpublic high school to 41
a public high school. However, there shall be no criteria 42
requiring that released time courses be completed only at a 43
nonpublic school. The decision to award credit for a released time 44
course of religious instruction shall be neutral to, and shall not 45
involve any test for, religious content or denominational 46
affiliation.47

       For purposes of this division, secular criteria may include, 48
but are not limited to, the following:49

       (1) The number of hours of classroom instruction time;50

       (2) A review of the course syllabus that reflects course 51
requirements and materials used;52

       (3) The methods of assessment used in the course;53

       (4) The qualifications of the course instructor, which shall 54
be similar to the qualifications of other teachers within the 55
district.56

       Notwithstanding division (C)(8) of section 3313.603 of the 57
Revised Code, high school credit awarded to a student for a 58
released time course in religious instruction may substitute for 59
the same amount of credit in subjects listed in that division.60

       (D) A school district, member of a school district board of 61
education, or school district employee is not liable in damages in 62
a civil action for injury allegedly arising during a student's 63
transportation to or from a place of instruction when private 64
transportation is used under a released time policy adopted under 65
this section. This division does not eliminate, limit, or reduce 66
any other immunity or defense that a school district, member of a 67
school district board of education, or school district employee 68
may be entitled to under Chapter 2744. or any other provision of 69
the Revised Code or under the common law of this state.70