Distractions to academic learning during the school day — whether they be hockey games, doctor’s appointments or religious instruction — must be eliminated or reduced as much as possible for the sake of our students.
Religious release time at International Falls schools ought to be offered at the end of the school day. And more so, we’d prefer to see that religious instruction offered after or before the school day or on weekends so that the school day is not disrupted.
And we must disagree with those who ask that the schools teach something not so critical while some students are out of the classroom. Asking other students to lower their expectations of an opportunity to learn — for what ever reason — is not realistic in a diverse community.
Don’t get us wrong. We value the opportunity for parents and churches to provide lessons about their faith to young people. For many in our community, church and religious instruction plays a crucial role in their lives.
But we can’t support anything that lessens the opportunity for our young people to get the most out of their school day and learning opportunities. The academic instruction they gain at school are among the lessens that will assist them as they grow into advanced education systems, careers and as future community leaders.
Clearly, religious instruction can help complete a young person’s education. But there are many other times that information can be brought to children.
The school district has been courteous and respectful of religion by upholding a tradition of not offering school events after 6 p.m. on Wednesday evenings, a time when some Christians attend religious services. This points to the logic that religious education better fits after school hours, or even before, but not during the school day. And recent changes made by the school district should not be viewed as an attack against religious groups, but rather progress toward a system that better fits the educational needs of students, which includes the requirement to achieve on state standardized testing.
Teachers now try to squeeze every drop of time during the school day for learning for the betterment of students and to perform on rigorous statewide testing. The previous release time system was not working for our students and could almost be viewed as detrimental to their academic education.
We urge religious leaders in our community to again meet with school officials to find a better way to provide academic learning for all, and religious instruction to those who choose it.
