MONTGOMERY, Ala. – A bill that would have required Alabama’s public schools to let students leave campus during the school day for religious instruction failed in committee Wednesday, in a 9-4 vote, with two lawmakers abstaining. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle raised concerns about taking away local control and putting more pressure on already full school schedules.
House Bill 342, sponsored by Rep. Susan DuBose, R-Hoover, would have changed a 2019 law that currently gives school boards the choice to allow release time. Her bill would have required all districts to adopt a policy, changing the word “may” to “shall.”
“Since we passed the legislation that allowed the districts to ‘may implement a policy,’ we’ve actually only had 12 districts in our whole state implement a policy,” DuBose told the House Education Policy committee. “Twelve out of the over 130 school districts that we have.”
She said the low number means the current law isn’t strong enough.
“We think there’s parent demand,” she said. “And we think that there’s school systems that are not meeting that demand.”
But some lawmakers questioned whether the bill would take away local decision-making control.
Rep. Alan Baker, R-Brewton, said some school boards may have already looked at the issue and decided it didn’t work for them.
“I recognize there could be some school systems that have not adopted a policy for whatever reason,” Baker said. “But then again, I also recognize there are probably some school systems that already have been approached about this, and they have made a conscious decision not to adopt a policy… It could be that they really value the instructional time – not to say that this is not worthy – but maybe just not during the confines of the school day.”
He added that the bill wouldn’t really leave the choice up to local boards.
“Although it seems to be inferred or implied that there is local control, to me, it doesn’t seem that is actually the case,” Baker said.
Rep. TaShina Morris, D-Montgomery, had similar concerns. She said she received a lot of feedback about the bill and doesn’t see how schools can keep adding more programs to the school day.
“The school hours haven’t changed,” she said. “Yet they keep sticking things into class time.”
Rep. Jeana Ross, R-Guntersville, said she supports religious education but is worried about how students would have enough time to travel off campus and back during the school day.
“I absolutely support religious education, absolutely, without a doubt,” Ross said. “But they have to drive to wherever this instruction is being held. How long are they going to have before they have to get back in the vehicle, drive to where they’re going, walk back down the hall and go to their class? I have an issue with the practical, technical implementation of this.”
This may not be the last time lawmakers see the bill this session, as Sen. Shay Shelnutt, R-Trussville, filed Senate Bill 278 Tuesday, which is identical to DuBose’s bill.