WORTHINGTON, Ohio (WCMH) --- Just two weeks after Westerville’s school board decided to rescind the policy allowing students to leave during the day for religious instruction, another central Ohio school district has started a similar discussion.  Worthington City Schools currently allows absences for religious instruction during the school day and the only program taking advantage of that right now is LifeWise Academy, a Bible-based education program. Ohio hospital working to conserve IV fluids amid national shortage The Worthington school board is now starting a conversation to see if the current policy is right for the district.   LifeWise’s founder and CEO Joel Penton said he was very disappointed to hear about Westerville rescinding its policy and taking the program away. He said he doesn’t want to see that in other central Ohio schools.   “We’re all very saddened for the families of hundreds of students that had access to religious education during school hours and that religious freedom has been taken away from them,” he said.   The debate has now come to Worthington and the board of education’s policy committee met Monday evening before the regularly scheduled meeting to talk about religious release.   The board members who serve on the committee said the entire Worthington school board needs to have a discussion about where to go from here. Ohio Wesleyan program aims to help students have healthy political conversations During the regular board meeting, people on both sides of the issue commented.  Michael Aljancic said he currently has two kids in Worthington LifeWise and wants the release time policy to stay.   “I do know that the curriculum they have, it’s inclusion. It’s about providing grace to others, it’s about understanding that we’re all sinners,” he said.   Other Worthington parents said religion should be kept completely separate from public school education.   “Our teachers and administrators have very limited time in which to get all that information across,” Worthington parent Kathy Johnson said. “So the other times during the day, before, after school, weekends, that is the time when religion should be accessed.”  Another parent, Amy Davis, said if LifeWise Academy stays at Worthington, lots of other religious organizations could decide to start their own program during the school day.  Ohio’s criminal record law offers new lease on life “Multiple religions would have to be accommodated and the scheduling of that once we have 50 religions per building gets just ridiculous,” she said.   During Monday night’s meeting, board members brought up the religious release policy saying it’s their due diligence to have a conversation about whether this is right for Worthington.   Board members said the options moving forward are to keep the policy as it is, change it, or rescind it entirely. No decisions about the release for religious instruction policy were made Monday night but board members said they’ll have a more thorough discussion about it during its Nov. 13 meeting.