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Union Public Schools
Our mission is to graduate 100 percent of our students, college and career ready.

5512 Released Time Course

The district will permit a student to attend a released time course for no more than three class periods per week or a maximum of one hundred twenty-five class periods per school year. A “released time course” means a period of time during which a student is excused from school to attend a course in religious or moral instruction taught by an independent entity off district property.

Attendance of a released time course, will be permitted, provided that:

1.       The student’s parent or legal guardian provides to the district written consent prior to the student’s participation in the released time course;

2.       No district funds other than de minimis administrative costs are expended and no district personnel, equipment, or resources are involved in providing the instruction;

3.       The independent entity maintains attendance records and makes them available to the district and its board of education;

4.       Any transportation provided to and from the place of instruction is the sole responsibility of the independent entity, the student, or the student’s parent or legal guardian;

5.       The independent entity or the student’s parent or legal guardian indemnifies the district and holds it harmless with regard to any liability arising from conduct that does not occur on district property under the control or supervision of the district, and the independent entity maintains adequate insurance for that purpose;

6.       The student assumes responsibility for any missed school work;

7.       The district’s superintendent, the principal for the school site in which the student is enrolled, or their designees have reasonable discretion over the scheduling and timing of released time courses; provided, the student may not be excused to participate in a released time course during any class in which the subject matter being taught is subject to the assessment requirements of 70 O.S. § 1210.508 (Oklahoma State Board of Education Statewide System of Student Assessments.)

The district and its board of education shall not be liable for the student who participates in a released time course when the student is not under the control or supervision of the district.

A student who attends a released time course shall be considered in attendance in the district, and the time shall be calculated as part of the school day.

 

Released Time Course Credit

The district’s board of education shall award a student credit for work completed in a released time course when such is substantiated by a transcript from the independent entity providing the course. A student shall be awarded elective credit for the completion of each released time course. The number of credits to be awarded will be determined based on the criteria established below.

In determining whether elective credit may be awarded, the district’s board of education shall evaluate the course in a neutral and secular manner that does not involve any test for religious content or denominational affiliation. For purposes of this subsection, the secular criteria used by the board to evaluate a released time course may include:

1.       The amount of classroom instruction time;

2.       The course syllabus, which reflects the course requirements and any materials used in the course;

3.       Methods of assessment used in the course;

4.       The qualifications of the course instructor.

Reference:    OKLA. STAT. tit. 70, § 11-101.3 (2024)

 

 

Adopted 12/9/2024