The CEO of a national Christian education group is clearing the air on efforts to bring Christian-based morality and ethics teachings to Nashville Elementary School students.
At an Aug. 5 Nash County Board of Education meeting, supporters of LifeWise Academy addressed the school board during the public comments portion of the meeting and thanked school leaders for allowing the program to be launched in the 2024-25 school year. But many on the school board were hearing of the program for the first time.
The organization’s CEO, Joel Penton, addressed the misunderstanding in an email sent Tuesday to shed some light on the confusion.
“The decision-making process to approve LifeWise Academy to operate within a school district varies from district to district, with school superintendents typically being the primary point of contact with LifeWise,” Penton wrote.
“Details for the program launch in Nash County have not yet been determined, but we look forward to working with the community to bring LifeWise to children during the school day should their parents choose that option for them,” Penton added.
LifeWise Academy has a Nashville-specific link at lifewise.org/nashcountync. Clicking on the program details tab shows a page listing local residents Christy Smith as the Nashville program’s director and Robin Purdy and Tamara Long as teachers. All three spoke at last week’s school board meeting.
The program would be conducted off campus during school hours. Nash County Public Schools has not committed any funding to the program.
LifeWise Academy’s website touts its mission of bringing “Bible education to the public school kids in our area.”
Penton is also the founder of LifeWise Academy. Since its launch in 2019, the organization claims it serves hundreds of schools across the U.S.
“Tens of thousands of public school students attend a LifeWise program and receive a Bible class as part of their school day,” stated a LifeWise spokesperson.
Legally, LifeWise is permitted to operate under U.S. Supreme Court rulings that allow for off-campus religious instruction during school hours.
Using its own buses to take students to a nearby facility, often a church, LifeWise conducts classes on ethics and morality. Students attending the program must have a parent’s or a guardian’s permission.
At last week’s school board meeting, LifeWise Academy representative Maureen Peacock told school board members that she and LifeWise’s local steering committee met with Nash County Public Schools Superintendent Steve Ellis and with then-Nashville Elementary School principal Quintin Mangano on two separate occasions and received “affirmation” to proceed with plans to bring LifeWise Academy’s Christian-based curriculum to Nashville Elementary.
Nash County Public Schools spokeswoman Heather Finch stated Friday that LifeWise Academy does not a have formal partnership agreement with the school system. But school officials said last week the door has been left open for further discussion.
On Wednesday, Ellis said he and Smith planned to meet to further discuss the prospects of LifeWise Academy coming to Nashville Elementary. Ellis said he expected the issue to be addressed by the Nash County Board of Education at an upcoming meeting.
At last week’s meeting, school board member Bill Sharpe praised the program and said it has been shown to have a positive impact on discipline at the schools it serves.
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