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Multiple speakers urge board to block Lifewise release-time religious program from replacing class time
Summary
Several public commenters told the board Lifewise Academy’s weekly release-time lessons disrupt instruction, use nontransparent funding, and pose equity and constitutional risks. Speakers urged the board to protect instructional time and district neutrality.
Multiple members of the public used the board’s public comment period Thursday to press Buncombe County Schools officials to prevent Lifewise Academy programming from replacing classroom instructional time.
Sharon Broussard, a resident who identified her district as Reynolds, told the board Lifewise “pulls public school students out of class during the school day to attend religious lessons” and said the curriculum originates with Lifeway, the Southern Baptist Convention’s publishing arm. “While some kids ride a red bus to Lifewise, classmates left behind often sit idle or do busy work instead of…
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