KENTUCKY

Kentucky law (KRS § 158.200) permits local boards of education to provide an opportunity for pupils to attend moral instruction. Upon parental consent, local boards shall allow pupils to be excused for up to one (1) hour on no more than one (1) day each week, including time attributed to travel to and from, to attend a district-approved moral instruction offering.

Moral instruction must take place off school property, be voluntary and free from coercion, and may not be provided at public expense beyond de minimis administrative costs. Students who participate are credited with attendance as if they were in school and are included in average daily attendance calculations.

Individuals or organizations seeking to provide moral instruction must submit a written request to the local board of education that includes required contact information, transportation and safety plans, proof of insurance, indemnification assurances, and agreement to statutory conditions. Approved providers are subject to state and national criminal history background checks and disqualification standards under Kentucky law.

An organization wishing to start a new program should determine who in the school district has authority to approve a request and make an appointment to present the proposal consistent with statutory requirements.

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 (such as those related to adopting and maintaining the district’s Released Time policy).

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

3) Student participation in Released Time programs must be voluntary. There cannot be any coercion from school officials.

These three points are not exclusive. It is important to review the latest state and federal laws and court decisions to ensure the Released Time program follows current guidelines.

General Information

KRS § 158.200

Effective July 15, 2024 (2024 Ky. Acts, SB 19)

158.200 Moral instruction; conditions; quarterly reports

(1) The boards of education of local school districts may provide an opportunity for pupils to attend moral instruction in their jurisdiction, in the manner provided in this section.

(2) (a) Local boards of education shall allow pupils to be excused for up to one (1) hour on no more than one (1) day each week, which shall include time attributed to travel to and from, to attend a district-approved request for a moral instruction offering upon receiving the consent of the pupil's parent or guardian.

(b) Moral instruction provided under this section shall not take place on school property.

(d) Moral instruction shall be given without expense to any local board of education above de minimis administrative expenses incurred in carrying out this section.

(3) An individual, organization, entity, or any combination thereof seeking to provide a moral instruction offering for pupils shall submit a written, signed request to the local board of education of a school district regarding the proposed moral instruction offering. The request shall include:

(a) Contact information for the primary individual who will be providing the moral instruction, as well as all other individuals who may be transporting pupils or providing moral instruction to students through the offering;

(b) A statement acknowledging and agreeing to be bound by the requirements placed upon moral instruction offerings under this section;

(d) A transportation plan to ensure the safety of pupils while traveling to and from moral instruction within the allotted time period;

(e) A statement acknowledging and agreeing to inform the parent or guardian of a participating pupil that the school district and its employees and agents shall not incur any liability as a result of any injury sustained by the pupil related to participation in the moral instruction offering;

(f) A statement acknowledging and agreeing to indemnify and hold harmless the school district and its employees and agents against any claims relating to the moral instruction offering or transportation to or from the offering; and

(g) Proof of insurance coverage to be carried by the provider that shall include adequate insurance for liability, property loss, and personal injury of students related to the moral instruction offering or transportation to or from the offering.

(4) (a) Upon receipt of a request under subsection (3) of this section, the local board of education may make arrangements with the person seeking to provide the moral instruction offering as the local board deems necessary.

(b) Upon approval by the local board of a request under this section, the superintendent of the school district shall require each individual identified in the request to submit to a national and state criminal history background check by the Department of Kentucky State Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation and have a clear CA/N check, provided by the individual, consistent with the provisions of KRS 160.380(6). The individuals, or the organization or entity through which the moral instruction offering will be provided, shall be responsible for all costs associated with obtaining the criminal history and CA/N checks under this paragraph.

(c) As a condition of the agreement between the local board and a provider, the local board shall require that any individual identified in the request under subsection (3) of this section be barred from providing transportation or participating in moral instruction offerings under this section upon receipt by the school district of a report documenting a record of:

1. Child abuse or neglect;

2. A sex crime or criminal offense against a victim who is a minor, as defined in KRS 17.500; or

3. A violent crime as defined in KRS 17.165;

by the individual. The prohibition shall continue until the local board receives an updated record for that individual that does not contain a disqualifying item.

(5) A pupil who attends a moral instruction offering at the time specified and for the period fixed shall be:

(a) Credited with the time of attendance as if he or she had been in actual attendance in school, and the time shall be included as part of the actual school work required in KRS 158.060. A pupil shall not be penalized for any school work missed during the specified time; and

(b) Included in calculating the average daily attendance for the Support Education Excellence in Kentucky program as if the pupil was in actual attendance in school.

(6) A pupil who does not participate in a moral instruction offering shall remain in school during the time when the instruction is being given, and shall take noncredit enrichment courses or participate in educational activities not required in the regular curriculum, and that time shall be included as part of the actual school work required in KRS 158.060. Students of different grade levels may be placed into combined classrooms in accordance with maximum class size allotments as described in KRS 157.360. These courses or activities shall be supervised by certified school personnel and may include but are not limited to study hall, computer instruction, music, art, library, physical education, and tutorial assistance.

(7) A school district shall not discriminate against a pupil for his or her participation or nonparticipation in a moral instruction offering.

(8) (a) Each local board of education shall submit the following information quarterly to the Kentucky Department of Education:

1. The name of each applicant that submitted a request to provide a moral instruction offering;

2. The date of the application;

3. The local board's approval or denial of the application; and

4. If the request was denied, the reason for the denial.

(b) The Kentucky Department of Education shall compile the quarterly reports required by this subsection and submit a combined report to the Legislative Research Commission no later than December 1 of each year for referral to the appropriate Interim Joint Committee on Education.

Statutes

None.

Regulations

1961 Ky. Op. Att’y Gen. No. 508

The Church of the Good Shepherd could, on a released time basis, provide confirmation instruction of one hour each week in parish buildings to students attending the public school system.

1963 Ky. Op. Att’y Gen. No. 937

The legislature intended that the students be released from school for one hour each week to go to religious instruction conducted by religious organizations of their faith without any coercion by teachers or school administrators.

1966 Ky. Op. Att’y Gen. No. 116

Whether students will actually be excused to receive moral instruction at a parochial school is discretionary with the Board of Education.

1968 Ky. Op. Att’y Gen. No. 254

A local school board has authority to excuse students for organized religious services or instruction but that authority is limited to one day per week and to a number of hours to be established by the board within the limits prescribed, the minimum being one hour and the maximum determined by the length of the services or instruction.

1975 Ky. Op. Att’y Gen. No. 0218

Sections KRS 158.200 to 158.260 do not authorize the releasing of pupils for moral instruction on any basis other than one hour per week, and thus a released on accumulated basis, though equivalent, violates these sections.

1975 Ky. Op. Att’y Gen. No. 595

It is prohibited to use public school buildings for moral instruction classes, irrespective of whether or not rent is paid for the use of the premises.

1975 Ky. Op. Att’y Gen. No. 643

School buses may be used to transport children participating in a released school time program of moral instruction where the school is reimbursed by the sponsors of the program for the actual expense of operating the buses for that purpose.

1978-1979 Ky. Op. Att’y Gen. No. 515

The school board cannot implement a policy penalizing students who are excusably absent from school.

1992-1993 Ky. Op. Att’y Gen. No. 153

This opinion affirms that “absent students shall be counted present if attending classes for moral instruction pursuant to KRS 158.240.”

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 off school property. The Court found the program constitutional because participation was voluntary, no public funds were used for instruction, and the program took place off campus. Zorach remains the leading authority guiding Released Time programs nationwide.

Wooley v. Spalding, 293 S.W. 2d 563 (1956)

In Wooley, the Court of Appeals of Kentucky upheld an injunction prohibiting a local school board from (1) expending public funds for religious or sectarian purposes, (2) keeping sectarian periodicals in the school libraries, and (3) operating public school buses on religious holidays. The court emphasized that the U.S. Supreme Court guidelines concerning “released time” as set forth in Zorach v. Clauson and McCollum v. Board of Education must be respected and followed in public schools. Therefore, no public funds can be expended for promoting or providing religious moral instruction.

Case Law