Dear Liberty,

As you may have seen, a religious education organization, LifeWise, has been advertising for a program director for its services within the geographic boundaries of the Liberty Central School District (the “District”). The advertising may imply that LifeWise is offering a bible education program in affiliation or partnership with  the District. We want to make it clear that Liberty CSD is not affiliated with, and does not offer any religious education programs in partnership with, LifeWise or any other religious entity.

We understand and respect that religious education is important to many families in the District. Parents may choose to submit a written request to release their children from school for religious instruction by any religious organization of their choice. The District will honor those requests to the extent required by law. However, the District is not involved in scheduling, programming, or transportation for the religious instruction.

We have sent the following message to LifeWise asking it to remove the District from any of its advertising:

The Liberty Central School District has received inquiries from our community regarding the District’s affiliation with LifeWise. In particular, we are concerned about a social media posting which states, in pertinent part, that LifeWise is “Now Hiring a Program Director for Liberty New York Central School District. Bible Education Coming Soon.” This posting may be creating the misleading and inaccurate impression that Liberty CSD is affiliated with LifeWise, or is partnering with LifeWise to offer religious instruction to Liberty students, or is jointly employing a “program director,” none of which is true.

We respectfully request that LifeWise remove any and all references to Liberty CSD in the above-mentioned posting and in any other promotional materials which may suggest that Liberty CSD has any connection with LifeWise. Liberty CSD does not endorse or support any particular religious organization, including but not limited to LifeWise.

As mentioned in our correspondence dated July 24, 2024, “The Liberty Central School District will honor its obligation to excuse a student from school for off-site religious instruction upon written request from their parent, consistent with applicable law. Any arrangements for transportation and/or scheduling should be addressed with the parents of each student.” This applies equally to religious instruction offered by LifeWise and any other religious organization of parent choice.

If you have any questions, please feel free to email questions@libertyk12.org.

Sincerely,

Dr. Patrick Sullivan
Superintendent