Board gives temporary approval to release‑time religious instruction policy after debate over background checks

The New Philadelphia City Board of Education gave temporary approval to a substitute for board policy J E F B, governing release‑time religious instruction (RTRI), after an extended discussion about background checks, Rapback enrollment and how the policy compares with the district’s volunteer rules.

Board member Schrock moved to replace the policy on the agenda with the substitute that had been distributed to board members earlier; the motion received a second and passed on a roll call vote. The temporary approval will be revisited for a final vote at next Monday’s regular meeting, per board procedure.

Board members and staff spent most of the discussion on vetting and monitoring requirements for sponsoring entities and their volunteers. District staff explained that the substitute requires sponsoring entities to provide the district with both BCI (Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation) and FBI records checks for instructors and volunteers who run an RTRI course; those checks must be provided at no cost to the board and sponsoring entities must provide annual verification and enroll instructors/volunteers in the state Rapback system. The substitute also requires sponsoring entities to update documentation when staffing changes.

Board members raised several operational questions: whether the substitute requires new FBI checks annually or only when volunteers are first enrolled, how existing district volunteer rules differ from the substitute, who pays any initial fingerprinting fees, and how missed instructional time is recorded when students are released and return to class. Staff said FBI checks are repeated every five years for employees, volunteers currently receive Ohio BCI checks every five years under existing practice, and Rapback enrollment will notify the district of intervening convictions; staff also said the substitute’s annual verification requirement is intended to show the sponsoring entity has kept its records current.

Some board members said the substitute is intended to provide greater safety for students when they leave district property for off‑site instruction; others said the district should revise its general volunteer policy so the new RTRI requirements are not applied inconsistently to religious entities. Multiple members asked the policy committee to convene quickly to align volunteer policy districtwide.

Board members also asked staff to clarify attendance and instructional‑time recording procedures. Staff said the district does not intend to shorten core instruction to accommodate release time; missed minutes are recorded in student attendance records and procedural language will be added to the policy’s implementing procedures.

The board approved the substitute policy as a temporary measure by roll call (Schrock: yes; Fontana: yes; Galentine: yes; Rickwick: yes; McMath: yes). A board member noted the temporary approval was needed to meet a legal timing requirement (the policy must be in place by Wednesday) but the district’s policy requires two board votes for final adoption, so the item will return for a final vote at the next regular meeting.

Clarifying details and next steps included: policy committee direction to consider aligning the district volunteer policy with the RTRI substitute; staff to add procedural language on attendance and verification timelines; and confirmation from staff that the substitute states no cost to the board for Rapback enrollment and that initial fingerprinting fees were discussed as an out‑of‑pocket expense that may affect volunteers (transcript remarks cited approximately $22 for an Ohio BCI check and about $68 total for both checks, per comments in the meeting).