Knox County Schools approves religious course policy some members consider to a “slippery slope”

The Knox County Schools Board of Education approved a policy to allow students to leave school for an hour to earn elective credits for religious courses.The 7-1 decision came with some reservations from board members, including Reverend John Butler. The District 1 board member raised numerous concerns about the vagueness of the policy.“My concern when you start talking about religious content or denominational affiliation, it’s a slippery slope. So that’s one of my concerns, is that fairness, but also what one person may consider religious, another may not,” said Butler. “And we’re not evaluating the religious content (for) denominational affiliation, I understand that. But anyone can bring anything. The entity that we may be looking at right now and it’s as legitimate as they may be, how do we protect ourselves from others, from those illegitimate?”Butler also brought up additional concerns over responsibility if the chosen instructor is found to have a record of misconduct.Supporters proposed the policy change to expand parent choice in the district and allow students freedom to obtain varied educational experiences that can only be gained outside the traditional classroom.Board member Susan Horn said it’s presumptuous of district leaders to pick and choose what courses students can and can’t have access to.“I think we need to be very careful about how we value a class and the assumptions that we make on a class. As I said on Monday, this issue goes back to students and parents having the right to direct their own educational experience,” said Horn. “I think it’s very presumptive of us to think that we know what’s best for any particular student on what classes they should take and what should on their transcripts.”Earlier this year, the Tennessee General Assembly passed legislation that increases the number of electives students can receive from a “release time course,” which is a period of time a student is excused from regular school hours to receive religious instruction from an independent entity off campus.Under the policy approved by Knox County Schools, religious courses must be evaluated neutrally by district curriculum supervisors, without any test for religious content or denominational affiliation. The teacher must be state certified, and the class must be the same length of time as a regular class period or block.The district additionally will need to evaluate the course’s method of assessment. Knox County Schools is now working on a system to fairly conduct that evaluation.Board member Jennifer Owens was the sole vote against the policy change.