Released time for religious instruction, sometimes called “RTRI” or Release Time Education,  allows public school districts to excuse students for religious education within the boundaries of local school district policy and Ohio law passed in 2014. Ohio legislators have introduced HB 445 and SB  293 which would change one word of Ohio law, requiring school districts to adopt RTRI policies. This effort is being pushed by a religious nonprofit known as LifeWise. Headquartered in Hilliard, Ohio, and founded by former OSU linebacker Joel Penton, LifeWise Academy makes use of RTRI laws and policies “to reach unchurched public school students with the gospel.” 
Honesty for Ohio Education has created a Toolkit in collaboration with other Ohio groups and community members. This toolkit serves to educate Ohioans about RTRI and the dangers of LifeWise while also equipping community members with the resources needed to fight state-wide legislation and their local district's policy. 

Having trouble viewing the toolkit? Download here

See what's happening at the Ohio  Statehouse:  Track HB 445

We encourage you to share this toolkit widely with your community members. Need social media graphics on RTRI and LifeWise? Check out these graphics available for public use. 
Honesty would like to give a huge thank you to everyone that made this possible and credit members of the Honesty Teams Network — RTRI Working Group, Kara Butlien-Cohen, Danielle Wirick, Sarah Myers, Kathy Yohn with Valley View Parents Concerned About LifeWise, amongst others, for their contributions to the toolkit. 

LifeWise Programs 

Find all the locations LifeWise is operating classes and track the progress of LifeWise in your school district.
Map provided by Respect Public Schools

LifeWise Connections to Project 2025