In a unanimous vote, the Oldham County Board of Education rejected a proposal for a moral education program at one of its elementary schools. The Christian group Lifewise proposed to remove third, fourth and fifth grade students at Locust Grove Elementary during the school day for Bible-based moral instruction.
School board members said the proposal had been extremely contentious ahead of the vote. Carly Clem, who chairs the board, said she rejected the measure on logistical grounds and has no objection to Lifewise’s curriculum. Clem was also concerned about lost instructional time, which would have amounted to roughly 30 hours over the course of the school year.
“I don't know who we can ask to facilitate that, unfortunately, and I'm all about moral instruction. I am. It's not going against that. I'm a Christian,” Clem said. “It is more about the logistics for me.”
A law passed by the General Assembly this year created a new framework for moral education in the state, which was already legal under Kentucky statutes. The law requires schools to allow students off campus for up to one hour per week for “moral education” that parents can opt into, but gives school boards the power to approve or reject the programs themselves.
The other students remain behind for that hour and participate in “noncredit enrichment courses” like physical education, music or study hall. Some school board members feared students who stay behind will end up in study hall, missing out on instructional time too. The bill also allows schools to combine grade levels as needed for that hour.
Read the rest at LPM News.
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