The concept of release time, whereby students leave public school during the day for religious instruction offsite, was upheld by the Supreme Court in 1952. It’s important to remember, however, that public schools aren’t required to permit outside groups to run release-time programs. If a school chooses to do so, it should not promote the plan or encourage students to take part in it. In addition, schools should not punish students who choose not to take part. Students who don’t want to participate in release-time programs should not see their education suffer. They should be given meaningful instruction while the program runs.