OH HB445

Changes school district policy on released time religious instruction from permissive ("may") to mandatory ("shall"), requiring boards of education to adopt policies authorizing student excusal from school for religious instruction courses conducted off school property.

Establishes six conditions for released time courses: written parental consent, sponsoring entity maintains attendance records, transportation responsibility on sponsoring entity/parent/student, sponsoring entity assumes liability, no public funds or personnel involved, and student responsible for missed schoolwork.

Students attending released time religious instruction are not counted as absent from school, but cannot be released from core curriculum courses and must make up missed schoolwork.

Permits high school students to earn up to two units of credit for completed released time religious instruction courses, evaluated using purely secular criteria matching standards for nonpublic school course transfers, without considering religious content or denominational affiliation.

Provides immunity from civil damages for school districts, board members, and employees for injuries during student transportation when private transportation is used under a released time policy.