INDIANA

Under Indiana law, when a parent provides written notice, the principal shall allow a student to attend religious instruction. The principal is required to work in a collaborative manner with the parent or sponsoring entity to determine a period or periods that are least disruptive to the student’s instructional time.

Indiana law limits Released Time as follows:

1) Elementary students: Not more than 120 minutes total per week; and

2) Public secondary students: An amount of time equivalent to attending one elective course during the week.

Any Released Time program must also comply with the court approved guideposts for Released Time programs. These include:

1) The school cannot fund the Released Time program, other than de minimis administrative costs;

2) Released Time programs cannot take place on school premises; and

3) Student participation must be voluntary with written parental notice.

These requirements are not exclusive. It is important to review current state statutes and federal constitutional principles to ensure program compliance.

Indiana law also permits public secondary schools to award academic credit for participation in Released Time religious instruction if statutory conditions are satisfied. These include neutral, secular evaluation criteria, expanded criminal history checks for instructors or volunteers, and liability insurance coverage maintained by the sponsoring entity.

Because principals and school districts now have statutory obligations under Indiana Code § 20-33-2-19, organizations seeking to establish a Released Time program should coordinate directly with school administrators to ensure scheduling, documentation, and operational procedures align with district policy and state law.

General Information

Indiana
IC 20-33-2-19
Effective: July 1, 2025
Legislation: SB 0255 and HB 1137

20-33-2-19 Public school children; religious instruction; academic credit

Currentness

Sec. 19. (a) When the parent of a student who is enrolled in a public school provides written notice, the principal shall allow the student to attend a school for religious instruction that is conducted by a church, an association of churches, or an association that is organized for religious instruction and incorporated under Indiana law.

(b) After receiving notice under subsection (a) and subject to subsection (c), the principal shall work in a collaborative manner with the parent or entity offering religious instruction to provide assistance in determining a period or periods for the student to receive religious instruction. An entity offering religious instruction to a student as described in this subsection shall, as applicable, work in a collaborative manner with the principal to ensure the period or periods in which the student receives religious instruction are the least disruptive to the instructional time (as defined in IC 20-30-2-1) of the student. The notice is valid only for the school year in which it is provided.

(c) The period or periods that a student receives religious instruction under this section may not exceed the following:

For students in elementary school, one hundred twenty (120) minutes in total in any week.
For students in public secondary school, the amount of time that is equivalent to attending one (1) elective course at the public secondary school during the week.

(d) An entity providing religious instruction that receives students under this section:

shall maintain attendance records and allow inspection of these records by attendance officers; and
may not be supported, in whole or in part, by public funds.

(e) A student who attends a school for religious instruction under this section shall receive the same attendance credit that the student would receive for attendance in the public schools for the same length of time.

(f) A public secondary school may award academic credit to a student who attends religious instruction under this section if the following conditions are met:

The entity that provides religious instruction to a student of a school corporation under this section agrees to do the following:
1. Conduct an expanded criminal history check and expanded child protection index check regarding each employee or contractor of the entity who is likely to have direct, ongoing contact with students of the school corporation who are children within the scope of the individual's employment or contract services.
2. Hold liability insurance coverage for services or transportation provided outside school property (as defined in IC 20-33-8-5).
The governing body of the school corporation adopts a policy that allows the awarding of credit. A policy adopted under this subsection must provide the following:
1. Classes in religious instruction are evaluated on the basis of purely secular criteria in substantially the same manner as similar classes taken by a student at a nonpublic secondary school who transfers to a public secondary school are evaluated to determine whether the student receives transfer credit for the classes. Secular criteria may include the following in addition to other secular criteria established by the governing body:
  1. The number of hours of classroom instructional time.
  2. A review of the course syllabus that reflects the course requirements and materials.
  3. Methods of assessment used in the course.
  4. Whether the course is taught by a licensed teacher.
2. The decision of whether to award academic credit is neutral as to, and does not involve any test for, religious content or denominational affiliation.
3. A provision that a student who attends religious instruction under this section shall first seek to use a time period during a student instructional day (as defined in IC 20-30-2-2) that is not devoted to student instructional time to attend religious instruction. If a student is not able to attend religious instruction at a time other than during student instructional time, the student may not be released to attend religious instruction for an amount of time per week that exceeds the amount established in subsection (c).

A student may be awarded a total of not more than two (2) elective academic credits under this subsection.

Statutes

None.

Regulations

1956 Ind. Op. Att’y Gen. No. 24

"The Acts of 1943, Ch. 225, Sec. 1, as found in Burns' Indiana Statutes (1948 Repl.) , Section 28-505a, referred to in your letter, is as follows: "If it is the wish of the parent, guardian or other person having control or legal custody of any child, that such child attend, for a period or periods to be determined by the local principal or superintendent of schools and not exceeding in the aggregate one hundred and twenty (120) minutes in any week, a school for religious instruction, conducted and maintained bysome church or association of churches, or by some association organized for religious instruction, and incorporated under the laws of this state, and which school shall not be conducted or maintained, either in whole or in part, by the use of any public funds raised by taxation; such child upon written request of the parent, guardian or other person having legal custody may be permitted to attend such school for religious instruction and such permission shall be valid for not longer than the school year during which it is issued. Such school for religious instruction shall maintain records of attendance which shall at all times be open to the inspection of the public school attendance officers. Attendance at such school for religious instruction shall be given the same attendance credit as at the public school”

“I am of the opinion the Acts of 1943, Ch. 225, Sec. 1, supra, is constitutional in its entirety. This is true for the reason there is no material difference between the provisions of the Indiana Released Time Statute and the New York Plan, and the language of the United States Supreme Court … is equally applicable to the Indiana statute.”

Attorney General

Zorach v. Clauson, 343 U.S. 306 (1952)

The U.S. Supreme Court in Zorach upheld a Released Time program that allowed students to leave school during the day for religious instruction conducted off school property. The Court found the program constitutional because participation was voluntary, no public funds were used for religious instruction, and the instruction took place off campus. Zorach remains the leading authority guiding Released Time programs nationwide, including Indiana.

H.S. v. Huntington County Community School Corp., 616 F. Supp. 2d 863 (N.D. Ind. 2009)

In H.S., the federal district court for Northern Indiana held that parking a trailer on school property, combined with the appearance that the trailer was using school electricity, was sufficient to raise Establishment Clause concerns. The court upheld a preliminary injunction against the program, emphasizing the importance of avoiding the perception of school endorsement or support of religious instruction.

Case Law

INDIANA

Released Time

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