The Cumberland County Board of Education unanimously advanced a policy Tuesday that allows students to leave school one hour per week for religious instruction.
The board voted 8-0 to approve the first reading of a revision to its “Religious-Based Exemption from School Programs” policy. The revision will receive a second reading before final approval.
Adding the religious instruction exemption, which will be an excused absence under the policy, is to comply with a provision included in North Carolina’s fiscal year 2026 budget, which was signed into law on July 7. The school district’s policy revision retains an existing process allowing families to seek religious exemptions from specific classroom discussions, activities, or assigned readings.
“This is all new,” board attorney Nick Sojka said during a Policy Committee meeting on September 1. “This language comes to us pretty much word for word from the General Assembly and the language in the state budget, which specifically allows for and requires school systems to provide opportunities for what they call released-time religious instruction.”
Vice Chair Jacquelyn Brown, during the committee meeting, questioned whether the requirement could represent an early step toward broader efforts to introduce religion into public schools.
Pointing to measures in other states—such as a Texas law requiring the Ten Commandments to be displayed in public-school classrooms and another allowing districts to provide time for prayer and reading the Bible or other religious texts—Brown asked whether “these seeds” were being planted to eventually require similar measures in North Carolina.
“This is more of an observation, because certain states have implemented that they teach the Ten Commandments and other religious things,” Brown said. “Is this not planting the seed to force us to eventually do that?”
Sojka said he could not predict what additional legislation might follow. Sojka said released-time programs are not new nationally.
He told board members that more than 20 states have enacted some form of legislation involving the programs and that his office identified at least two North Carolina school districts that adopted similar policies before the statewide requirement took effect.
Wake County recently advanced a policy allowing students to leave school for up to one hour of religious instruction each week.
New Hanover County had been considering whether to allow LifeWise Academy, an Ohio-based organization that provides off-campus Bible instruction, to serve district students. The board canceled a planned public hearing after the statewide requirement became law.
1 Hour Per Week of Religious Instruction
The Current Operations Appropriations Act of 2026 requires North Carolina public school districts, charter schools, and laboratory schools to excuse students to attend religious instruction provided by a private organization during the school day.
State lawmakers later clarified that districts must allow at least one—but no more than four—hours of released-time religious instruction each week.
That range left local school boards to determine how much time their students could miss. District administrators recommended limiting participation to one hour per week.
“We’ve inserted the one hour,” Sojka said. “That’s what the Cabinet looked at and that’s what we’re comfortable with from an instructional standpoint. We know that we need children in school receiving the standard course of study. That’s our priority and our North Star.”
Sojka said the one-hour limit appeared consistent with policies being considered by other large districts and with feedback from a regional group of superintendents that recently met in Cumberland County.
He said parents would be responsible for getting participating students to and from the instruction.
“The parent acknowledges in the form, consistent with the legislation, that they are entirely responsible for transportation to and from wherever this religious instruction might take place—at a house of worship, at a community center, wherever,” Sojka said.
“The basic idea would be that folks could check their children out an hour early and get them to some type of religious instruction,” he said. “So they’re just missing time at the end of the day.”
Sojka said the end of the school day is often reserved for “specials,” a term commonly used for classes such as art, music, and physical education.
The policy prohibits released-time religious instruction during mathematics, science, social studies, or English language arts classes. Students also cannot participate during state-required testing, screenings, remedial instruction, interventions, or retesting.
What Families Must Do
According to the revised policy, participation is voluntary, and a student can be excused only after a parent or guardian submits a written request and signs the district’s consent form.
Parents or guardians are responsible for transporting students to and from the religious instruction. They must also submit written proof that the student attended each time they request an excused absence. Students remain responsible for completing any schoolwork they miss.
The private instruction will be separate from the district’s educational program. Cumberland County Schools will not sponsor, oversee, or control it, and students will not receive academic credit for participating.
Outside organizations generally cannot provide the instruction on school property. However, they can apply to use district facilities under the district’s existing community-use policy.
The district cannot use state or local money to help students participate, except to cover minor administrative costs associated with carrying out the policy.
Sojka said the requirements are intended to ensure families are committed to the process and that students use the excused absence for its stated purpose.
“They’ve got to really buy into this process, keep us informed, and provide that assurance that this isn’t just free time to go get an ice cream cone,” he said.
