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Committee approves minor edits to religion-in-curriculum policy, adds annual-notice wording
Summary
The committee adopted revisions to Board Policy 2270 adding law citations for annual notice requirements and clarifying excusal language; members agreed the policy should state the school will honor a parent's written request to excuse a student from religious content.
The Waukesha School District Teaching and Learning Committee on April 3 approved edits to Board Policy 2270, "Religion in the Classroom," to add citations reflecting annual notice requirements and to clarify excusal language for students.
The committee voted 5-0 to adopt the revisions. Staff said the edits are minimal and primarily add citations and a short parental-excusal statement to improve readability and legal alignment.
A board member raised a readability and legal-clarity concern about a sentence that could be interpreted to allow a minor student to opt out independently of a parent. The member suggested rephrasing the sentence to read, "the school will honor a parent's written request for their student to be excused." A staff representative agreed that the suggested wording improves clarity and better reflects the district's intent.
Staff described the change as consistent with annual notice requirements in the law and said the text on the first page of the policy is largely unchanged aside from the added citations and the clarified parent/student statement. The motion to approve the amendment as amended passed unanimously.
The committee did not add procedural details about how excusal requests will be processed; staff indicated the policy text now aligns with legal notice requirements and that procedures can be clarified administratively if needed.
