Ohio School Law: Religion in Schools

ACLU.org

Ideastream Public Media 9/11/23 reporting on policies of Ohio Catholic Schools

Statehouse News Bureau 8/12/22

ProPublica 9/17/24

Vice 1/30/23

NBC News 12/19/22

ProPublica 1/13/25

Schragger, Richard C.; Schwartzman, Micah; and Tebbe, Nelson (2025), University of Chicago Law Review: Vol. 92: Iss. 1, Article 3.

Noah Feldman, 93 U. Cin. L. Rev. 299 (2024)

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

A public school teacher may belong to any faith or sect, or be a nonbeliever, and cannot be required to take a religious test.

The General Assembly shall make such provisions, by taxation, or otherwise, as, with the income arising from the school trust fund, will secure a thorough and efficient system of common schools throughout the state; but no religious or other sect, or sects, shall ever have any exclusive right to, or control of, any part of the school funds of this state.

Credentialed and classified staff shall be recruited, employed, assigned, evaluated and provided professional development in accordance with state and federal law, except that chartered nonpublic schools may consider religious affiliation in hiring and employment decisions to the extent permitted by law.

Franklin County Court of Common Pleas says the EdChoice scholarships are unconstitutional.

Ohio Capital Journal 7/13/22

EdChoice lawsuit continues NBC4 12/25/22

On June 5, 2025, Lifewise Academy filed a writ of mandamus at the Ohio Supreme Court arguing that the Civil Rights Commission has no authority over its employment decisions for its teachers, aka "ministers".

The Supreme Court held that a public school may not force an official prayer on schoolchildren.

School board did not have the right to fire a coach for leading a prayer on the football field.

The US Supreme Court said public schools likely burden parents’ religious exercise when they compel elementary school children to participate in instruction on gender and sexuality against their parents’ religious convictions and without notice or opportunity to opt out.

Under the Free Exercise of Religion Clause of the First Amendment, a state law requiring that children attend high school violates the parents' constitutional right to direct the religious upbringing of their children.

Ohio's program that gave parents tuition vouchers that allow their children to attend a private or religious school was constitutional, since the vouchers do not promote religious schools alone.

Allows release time from public school for religious instruction.

Passed by the legislature and signed by DeWine. Requires Ohio public school districts to allow release time from public school for religious instruction, tacked on to the "Parents Bill of Rights". Requires criminal background checks for workers in the religious instruction programs.

Enacts section 3345.024 of the Revised Code called "The Testing Your Faith Act"
to require each state institution of higher education to adopt a policy providing
students with religious accommodations.

The 2024-2035 budget. Passed the Ed Choice scholarships, which includes private religious schools.

Statehouse News Bureau 10/24/23

Religious apparel in interscholastic athletics

The board of education of each school district may provide for a moment of silence each school day for prayer, reflection, or meditation upon a moral, philosophical, or patriotic theme. No board of education, school, or employee of the school district shall require a pupil to participate in a moment of silence provided for pursuant to this section.

Released time courses in religious instruction are allowed if they are conducted by a private entity off school district property.

Passed by the legislature and signed by DeWine. Requires Ohio public school districts to allow release time from public school for religious instruction, tacked on to the "Parents Bill of Rights". Requires criminal background checks for workers in the religious instruction programs.

Authorizes a board of education to permit private and parochial schools to use public school facilities when those facilities are not being used for public school purposes. This statute has been construed to mean a board cannot permit religious instruction on school property during instructional time or during the school day immediately before or after actual instructional time.

EdChoice Scholarship Program

Ohio Student Religious Liberties Act of 2019 requires the same access to facilities for students wishing to meet for religious expression purposes as provided to secular student groups. It also permits students to engage in religious expression before, during and after school hours in the same manner and to the same extent that a student is permitted to engage in secular activities and expression. In addition, no school district may prohibit a student from engaging in religious expression in the completion of any assignment.

It shall be unlawful for any public secondary school which receives Federal financial assistance and which has a limited open forum to deny equal access or a fair opportunity to, or discriminate against, any students who wish to conduct a meeting within that limited open forum on the basis of the religious, political, philosophical, or other content of the speech at such meetings.