Committee adopts amendments and advances bill clarifying protections for churches and homeschool co-ops

The Senate Committee on Education reported House Bill 371 favorably as amended after a lengthy hearing on protections for places of worship and home-study cooperatives.

Representative Omidy described HB371 as amending the state's Preservation of Religious Freedom Act (Title 13) and corresponding definitions in Title 17 (education) to clarify that government may not impose restrictions on churches that exceed restrictions on comparable secular businesses. "House Bill 3 71 amends our state's religious freedom statute in an effort to provide protection for churches by making it clear that the government cannot require restrictions on churches that are more onerous than restrictions imposed on secular businesses," Omidy said. He and proponents said the measure would protect church use of facilities for activities such as "mom's day out, home study, co op, vacation bible school or even bible camp."

The committee adopted two amendment packages offered during the hearing. Amendment set 2686 added a definition of "home study cooperatives" and language to accommodate partnerships where parents of students in public virtual charter schools may use church facilities for supervised learning. Senator Hodges's amendment set 2878 included technical changes and an item allowing each local public school board to adopt a policy providing release time for after-school religious instruction programs.

Committee members pressed for clarity on safety and background checks. Ashley Townsend of the Louisiana Department of Education told the committee the department does not regulate the physical sites where approved home study learning occurs and that many home-study cooperatives operate with parents as the primary teachers. Senator Jackson Andrews repeatedly raised child-safety concerns, saying any time "our students are collectively in the presence of someone under any curriculum approved by LDOE, those background checks are very important." Andrews asked staff and proponents to work between committee and floor to add a requirement that non-parent instructors provide a recent background check to the parents or cooperative.

Proponents present included representatives of faith and homeschool organizations; several green-card supporters were noted in the record. Senator Andrews moved to report HB371 favorably as amended; the committee recorded no objections and the bill was reported favorably by voice.

The committee discussion clarified that the bill, as amended, does not change the state's home-study approval process but focuses on protections for facility use and defines home-study cooperatives. The transcript includes statements that the bill does not itself require churches to perform background checks; committee members discussed drafting additional language to require provider screening when non-parents instruct children in cooperatives.