- Boone County became the second Northern Kentucky district to reject Lifewise Academy’s released-time Bible study request after a school board motion failed to receive a second.
- The decision follows community debate, with teachers raising logistical concerns and residents speaking both for and against the program.
- Lifewise Academy, active in parts of Greater Cincinnati, is expanding under Kentucky’s new moral-instruction law but has faced mixed responses from local districts.
The Boone County School Board rejected a proposal from a religious education organization seeking to remove students from the classroom for one hour a week for voluntary Bible study.
Lifewise Academy, a Biblical-instruction organization based in Hilliard, Ohio, is attempting to expand into Northern Kentucky after the state’s General Assembly passed Senate Bill 19, which allows organizations seeking to provide moral instruction to submit a request to public school boards.
The law, which was vetoed by Gov. Andy Beshear, was ultimately overridden by the General Assembly. The law states that interested students can voluntarily receive moral instruction for one hour per week at no cost to the district.
Lifewise Academy was established in 2018 by Joel Penton, a former Ohio State University football player. Its website states that its curriculum is derived from the Gospel Project, which is a division of Lifeway, a media company affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention, one of the country’s largest evangelical denominations in the United States. As of the 2025-2026 school year, Lifewise Academy operates in 34 states, serving over 1,100 schools and 100,000 students, according to its website.
The organization is active in certain schools in the Greater Cincinnati area. A WVXU report from January revealed that Covedale Elementary on Cincinnati’s West Side, as well as Lebanon City Schools, have Lifewise programs, according to the organization’s website.
During a Boone County School Board meeting on Dec. 11, the board did not proceed with a motion from school board member Julie Maddox to initiate a discussion about Lifewise Academy’s potential inclusion in the school system. Maddox’s motion failed to receive a second from another board member, effectively killing the motion and the request altogether.
Boone County Schools is the second school district in Northern Kentucky to reject a proposal from Lifewise Academy, following Kenton County Schools‘ decision in early November.
Two Boone County teachers publicly opposed Lifewise Academy during a prior school board meeting in early November, with veteran district teacher Kim Diehl questioning the logistics of the one-hour study session that pulls students out of classrooms.
“Then also you’ve added a big field trip to the day,” Diehl said. “So if you’ve ever taught school, it’s very disruptive to have all the commotion, all the excitement, all that going on, and then you have the kids staying back, who you know, are we supposed to remediate them? What are we supposed to do? Keep them in this holding pattern?”
At the Dec. 11 meeting, some Boone County residents spoke both in favor of and against Lifewise Academy. Lifewise Academy’s Boone County Program Director, Taylor Sizemore, voiced her support for the request. Sizemore argued that the curriculum would benefit students.
“This is not something that we’re bringing in, and it’s not supported by the community,” she said. “We do understand that there will be some religious differences, but at the end of the day, this program is supported by Zorach v. Clauson as well as Senate Bill 19.”
Brian Maurer, a graduate of Boone County schools, voiced his opposition to Lifewise Academy, arguing that its programming could disrupt the schooldays of both teachers and students.
“After all, dividing students into religious and non-religious groups in the middle of the instructional day disrupts lessons, forces teachers to pause and adjust, and requires administrators to repeatedly coordinate student movement and supervision across classrooms and grade levels,” he said. “It’s unnecessary, inefficient and divides students at a place that’s supposed to unite them. This is not a rejection of religion. Religion is a fine thing that people should be free to pursue on their own time.”
This article includes reporting from LINK nky’s Nathan Granger.
