HB 370 Summary

• Establishes the Alabama Released Time Act to authorize local school boards to adopt policies allowing high school students to be excused from school to attend religious instruction classes conducted by private entities.

• Requires written parental consent and prohibits students from missing required core curriculum classes; students attending released time religious instruction are not considered absent from school.

• Mandates that sponsoring entities maintain attendance records, provide transportation (including for students with disabilities), and assume all liability, with no expenditure of public funds or involvement of public school personnel.

• Makes students responsible for making up any missed schoolwork and references the U.S. Supreme Court's Zorach v. Clauson decision (1952) as constitutional precedent for released time religious programs.

• Becomes effective on the first day of the third month following passage and approval by the Governor.