September 2026 Newsletter

I am writing to report an illegal sign attached to a utility pole in the public right-of-way. A yellow sign reading "JESUS SAVES" has been affixed to a wooden utility pole at or near the intersection of <street name>  and <street name> Columbus, OH <ZIP>. A photograph documenting the sign is attached.  

Attachment of unauthorized signs to utility poles violates Columbus City Code and, if the pole is AEP-owned infrastructure, may also violate AEP Ohio's usage policies. I am requesting that the sign be removed and, if possible, that the responsible party be identified and notified of the violation.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

LifeWise Academy: A Primer

What Is RTRI Anyway?

by Susan D'Ooge Miller and Jim Collier, PhD

Christian conservatives have imposed their will on public education on many fronts in recent years, such as bleeding taxpayers to fund private, mostly religious schools through vouchers and lobbying statehouses across the nation to impose book bans and curriculum restrictions. A new line of attack is abusing laws that guide Release Time for Religious Instruction (RTRI), which removes kids from school for Christian-based "moral guidance".

RTRI regulations are based on two Supreme Court cases. In McCollum v Board of Education (1948), the court struck down an RTRI program in Illinois where kids were solicited in school buildings and given registration cards by the school. In Zorach v. Clauson (1952), the court ruled that a specific RTRI program in the state of New York was constitutional, allowing parents to remove their kids from school on specific days for religious observation.

The Zorach decision was not a blanket allowance for all RTRI courses to run uncontested, and made clear that each RTRI program be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. Schools were to do no more than release students upon their parents' request and keep records of those absences. Schools were forbidden to promote specific programs or make in-school announcements on their behalf. Importantly, the ruling acknowledged that:

"This program may be unwise and improvident from an educational or a community viewpoint."

The McCollum and Zorach decisions were clear. Parents have the right to remove kids on specific days for specific religious reasons. Neither ruling imagined religious groups interrupting the school day by taking large numbers of kids off school property on a regular basis.

In recent years, no organization has abused RTRI laws more than LifeWise Academy.

Founded in 2018 and based in Hilliard, Ohio. LifeWise has infiltrated hundreds of school districts across many states and currently boasts that they are transporting over 62,000 students to church during school hours. With parental consent, kids are ostensibly picked up at school during non-graded periods such as art, music or recess, and transported by LifeWise employees or volunteers to off-site locations, then returned for the next class period.

Next installment: more on LifeWise, the founding, the strategy, growth, funding, violations, sex offenders and more.