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| 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 |
| 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 |