{"id":1898,"date":"2026-06-16T21:31:26","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T21:31:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=1898"},"modified":"2026-06-16T21:31:26","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T21:31:26","slug":"public-schools-must-excuse-students-for-religious-instruction-florida-ag-says-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=1898","title":{"rendered":"Public schools must excuse students for religious instruction, Florida AG says"},"content":{"rendered":"<article><!-- --><!-- --><!-- WPS-5038 -- removed the script from WPS and added the placeholder for trinity player --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- CONTENT --><!--[--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier last week issued a legal opinion affirming that all school districts must accommodate parents who want their children to leave or be absent from school for the purpose of receiving religious instruction.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=1897\">Miami-Dade commission votes to seize PortMiami\u2019s fuel yard in court fight<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Release time for religious instruction, also known as RTRI, allows students to be excused from school to attend religious instruction or \u201cdevotional exercises\u201d off school property.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Uthmeier wrote  in response to a question from Senator Clay Yarborough about whether existing Florida statutes require a school district to accommodate such requests. Uthmeier said his answer, in short, is yes.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>According to Uthmeier\u2019s opinion, certain school boards in Florida were providing \u201cblanket denials\u201d for RTRI programs or placing other types of restrictions. Both violate Florida law, said Uthmeier.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cFlorida law, consistent with the Supreme Court\u2019s decisions in Zorach and Mahmoud, prohibits public schools from restricting parents\u2019 efforts to direct the religious upbringing of their children, including participation in RTRI,\u201d Uthmeier wrote.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Florida already had policies in place for parents who want their children to be excused for things like religious holidays and religious instruction, but they weren\u2019t mandatory for school districts. Uthmeier\u2019s opinion, coupled with a recently approved update to policy by the Florida Board of Education, gives further guidance to school districts about how the rules should be implemented.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>In his opinion, Uthmeier said the rule ensures that the younger generations are becoming \u201cproperly shaped\u201d in terms of civic, moral and religious character, elements that he said are \u201cessential to the maintenance and longevity of our republican system of government.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cCrucially, RTRI enables parents to honor their sacred duties to raise their children in the faith. The LORD\u2014author of our natural rights and duties\u2014requires nothing less,\u201d the attorney general wrote.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<h2>Board of education updates existing policy<\/h2>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>At a May 14 meeting in Miami-Dade County, the State Board of Education updated its policies to require school districts to allow parents to request permission for a student to be absent from school for religious instruction or religious holidays. The absence would count as an excused absence and teachers must give students an opportunity to make up missed work, according to the new rules.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>The amendment also requires the school principal to work with parents to ensure that absences for religious instruction \u201cdo not take place during instruction in core-curricula courses.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>The rule changes take effect on June 17.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>At the meeting, members of the board of education applauded the rule changes.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Board commissioner Anastasios Kamoutsas said that the amendment fits into Florida\u2019s broader initiative around teaching character development in schools.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=1896\">Public schools must excuse students for religious instruction, Florida AG says<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Kamoutsas said the amendment was \u201cnear and dear to his heart\u201d and allows students to be given more exposure to education that he believes is vital to a child\u2019s development. At the same time, Kamoutsas said the amendment balances giving children a rigorous classroom instruction with giving parents the option to expose their children to religious instruction.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Board member Grazie Christie celebrated the amendment, saying she believes the purpose of education moves beyond filling \u201cchildren\u2019s minds with knowledge and technical know-how,\u201d but also includes character development through religious practice.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<h2>Freedom of religious expression<\/h2>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>The rule change comes at a time when the state and federal governments have been highly focused on advocating for freedom of religious expression.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>In February, the Department of Education released<u> guidance<\/u> reiterating that public school students and employees have a right to act and speak in accordance with their religious beliefs, provided they do not invade the rights of others.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>In March, Kamoutsas announced a<u> new complaint process,<\/u> which allows parents and individuals to submit complaints to the department if they feel their rights to prayer and religious expression in schools are not being honored.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>At the May 14 Board of Education meeting, Amy Perwien, a parent in Collier County raised questions about how a student\u2019s excessive absences may negatively impact their overall learning and mental health. Perwien also asked if all religious holidays will be treated equally.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow disruptive will leaving and returning to school be for classroom learning? What additional scheduling problems will be created by this rule?\u201d asked Perwien, who is also a member of the Interfaith Alliance of Southwest Florida.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Kathleen Murray, state education director of Citizens Defending Freedom, praised the new rules for allowing parents to \u201cplace faith at the center of their child\u2019s lives\u201d without being penalized.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cA child can retake a test, but that child cannot get back a missed opportunity for worship or spiritual growth,\u201d said Murray.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p><i>This story was produced with financial support from Trish and Dan Bell and donors in South Florida\u2019s Jewish and Muslim communities, including Khalid and Diana Mirza and the Mohsin and Fauzia Jaffer Foundation, in partnership with Journalism Funding Partners. The Miami Herald maintains full editorial control of this work.<\/i><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=1894\">Will Miami-Dade pen a taxpayer-funded deal with financially strapped Brightline?<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--]--><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Florida Attorney General says schools must grant parent requests for release time for religious instruction; new State Board rule takes effect June 17, 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1895,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1898","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Public schools must excuse students for religious instruction, Florida AG says - Florida Moving Chronicle<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=1898\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Public schools must excuse students for religious instruction, Florida AG says - Florida Moving Chronicle\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Florida Attorney General says schools must grant parent requests for release time for religious instruction; 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