Alabama parents will soon have a clear legal right to have their children briefly excused from public school during the school day for off‑campus religious instruction.
Governor Kay Ivey has signed SB248, the Alabama Released Time Credit Act, sponsored by State Sen. Shay Shelnutt (R‑Trussville), and State Rep. Susan DuBose (R‑Hoover). The law takes effect July 1, 2026, and represents a major shift in state education policy.
Under SB248, local school boards and the State Board of Education shall allow a parent or guardian to choose religious released time for their student. That wording is deliberate.
Alabama is no longer operating under a permissive “may” standard; it is now a mandatory “shall” state, requiring schools to permit participation unless one of two narrow exceptions applies.
Schools may deny released time only if there is objective evidence that participation would pose a substantial risk of physical harm to the student, or if it would cause the student to miss minimum instructional time or legally required academic interventions.
Outside of those circumstances, districts no longer have broad discretion to say no.
The legislation received strong backing from Lt. Gov. Will Ainsworth, who publicly supported the bill as part of a broader push to ensure parents, not school systems, control decisions about their children’s education and faith.
Ainsworth was repeatedly credited by supporters for helping move the measure forward after it stalled in a previous session.
A similar released‑time bill failed to advance last year after opposition surfaced during the committee process.
Supporters returned this session with a revised approach that protected parental choice while maintaining clear constitutional and liability safeguards.
Following the bill’s signing, Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Greg Chafuen said, “Parents have the right and responsibility to guide the upbringing and education of their children. The government shouldn’t stop families from raising their children in their family’s faith.”
SB248 defines released time as religious instruction conducted off school property by a private sponsoring entity, such as a church or community‑based organization. Public schools may not sponsor, supervise, fund, or staff the instruction.
Transportation is the responsibility of parents or the sponsoring entity, and students remain responsible for any missed schoolwork.
The law does not require local school boards to adopt a released‑time policy, but practically most districts will do so to manage scheduling and reduce liability.
The statute allows school systems to tailor local policies to their needs, so long as they comply with the law and do not undermine parental access.
The legislation also permits elective course credit in grades where credit is earned, subject to rules adopted by the State Board of Education.
The Alabama Policy Institute listed the Religious Released Time Act as a priority in its 2026 BluePrint agenda and later counted SB248 among the 29 of 30 agenda items enacted this session, calling it part of a record‑breaking year.
With SB248’s passage, the default has changed statewide. Religious released time is no longer something schools may allow, it is something they must allow.
Grayson Everett is the editor in chief of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on X @Grayson270.
