Bill allowing students to leave school for religious classes removed from education package

By Brian Beach , Reporter Nebraska Public Media

May 22, 2025, 6 a.m. ·

Nebraska Capitol (Photo by Fred Knapp, Nebraska Public Media News)

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State senators considered a package of education bills Wednesday afternoon. By the end of the day’s debate, only the underlying bill, LB306, remained.

The legislation initially contained six different bills after an amendment, AM1335, from the Legislature’s Education Committee combined them.

The section of the bill from Sen. Loren Lippincott, originally LB550, which would excuse students from public schools to attend religion classes, was among the most controversial. It would require school districts to adopt policies allowing students to miss up to one class period per week for an off-site course in religious instruction.

Parents would have to provide written consent for their children to participate, and the religious instruction class would be required to take attendance.

Sen. Bob Andersen said religious education still counts as education and that the removal of God and religion from society is a problem addressed, in part, by the bill.

“We've had this challenge for the last number of years where everybody wanted to step away from God, and then you turn into a godless culture,” he said. “I think providing this alternative to parents and students to have religious education, I think, is a positive.”

Lippincott said it would also help students perform better academically and behaviorally in school.

“The aim is to support families who seek religious education for their children while strengthening character education in our public schools fostering a well-rounded and inclusive learning environment for every student,” he said.

But Sen. Tom Brandt said the superintendents he spoke to in his district were opposed.

“They feel it kind of cheapens the class that they're getting out of, if you're using a shop class or a math class, or whatever it is,” he said. “And then they have the problem of disruption. When does that child come back? Where is that child? Who's responsible for that child?”

Sen. Megan Hunt noted one of the programs poised to take advantage of the legislation if passed is LifeWise Academy, a protestant Christian organization that already teaches Bible classes during school hours in other states.

Hunt took issue with its recruitment model, which can sometimes involve free T-shirts, snacks and a bus ride to an off-site location for classes.

“This is like Tupperware in the school,” she said. “They’ve got to all bring a friend. The friends who aren't allowed to go are already feeling bad because they're excluded, they're not on the fun red bus, they're not getting the T-shirt, and now, if they don't go with their friend to church during school, their friend doesn't get a popcorn party, so then they're ostracized even more.”

Sen. John Fredrickson said religious instruction programs could be especially challenging for students from families of different faiths or no faith.

“Programs like this that are going to leave behind kids in school who do not practice evangelical Christianity, and then their teachers are going to have to reteach different lesson plans -- this is not serious,” Fredrickson said. “This is not what public education is for. This is why we have private education.”

Hunt introduced an amendment to strike the section regarding released time for religious instruction. The amendment was successful with 25 senators voting for it and 9 voting against.

Soon after, the committee amendment itself, which combined parts of six different bills into the education package, was voted down 22-23, leaving only the underlying bill – which deals primarily with post-secondary education finance – remaining.

After a threat to filibuster from Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh, the bill was passed over for the evening but could still come up in the remaining seven days of the legislative session.