Several Ocean City residents used the public-comment period to press the school board for detailed scrutiny before permitting any LifeWise Academy release-time program in district schools.

Christine Stanford said she had reviewed email exchanges and raised concerns about board-member communications and potential leaks of constituent correspondences related to LifeWise outreach (SEG 792–840). Grace Trott and other speakers described Unified Sports in positive terms but also addressed LifeWise: Trott, identifying herself as a teacher and a parent, described LifeWise materials she found online and said the organization’s stated goal to reach the “unchurched” raised concerns about recruitment during school hours (SEG 845–911). Mary Fleming, Pamela Womble and other commenters reviewed LifeWise’s published scope and sequence and said that teaching a single faith’s curriculum during instructional hours could run afoul of the separation of church and state; Womble specifically referenced the First Amendment and cited Everson v. Board of Education (SEG 1210–1246; SEG 1444).

Public commentators asked detailed operational questions that the board or superintendent would need to answer before permitting release-time instruction during the school day: whether LifeWise instructors would be certified or subject to the same background checks and observation as district teachers; whether instruction would be standards-based and accessible to students with IEPs or sensory disabilities (braille, FM systems, sign-language interpreters); whether parents would retain control over participation; and whether lessons would be restricted to non-proselytizing, comparative or academic treatment of religion versus devotional teaching (SEG 963–999; SEG 971–995).

Opponents urged that religious instruction, if provided at all, occur off school property or outside instructional hours; supporters said values-based lessons (gratitude, respect, generosity) can be covered in humanities classes and that parents should be the primary decision-makers for religious education (SEG 1223–1233; SEG 1254–1262).

The meeting record does not show any board decision to permit or deny a LifeWise program; multiple speakers requested a thorough, documented review of curriculum, staffing, accommodations, and constitutional implications before any action (SEG 777–1480).