Huntsville City School Board member Andrea Alvarez is sharply criticizing a new state law allowing public school students to leave campus during the school day for outside religious instruction.
Recently signed into law by Governor Kay Ivey, the Alabama Released Time Credit Act, or SB248, officially goes into effect on July 1, 2026. The legislation specifically requires each local board of education to implement a policy allowing students released from the classroom to attend elective religious instruction during the school day to earn elective credit.
According to Alvarez, the law is not about religion or parental rights but insecure parents and their desire to be "disruptive" in public schools.
“Listen…I’m religious," Alvarez wrote in a Facebook post. "My kids go to religious education every Wednesday AFTER school. This law is ridiculous for the following reasons:
1. It is a national agenda funded by big money
2. It puts extra work on teachers and it’s a burden on the schools
3. There is no reason these lessons can’t happen outside of school…whatever happened to the “get back to reading, writing, arithmetic” crowd?! Why do they always contradict themselves?
4. This isn’t “parents rights” because public school isn’t mandatory…this is about parents who don’t respect public schools and want to be as disruptive as possible by pretending this is about “religion” when really it’s about their lack of security in their own parenting and their constant need to jump on whatever bandwagon makes them feel relevant…which is the reason the Alabama Policy Institute (API) even exists…they don’t even think for themselves. They get their talking points and legislative templates from 4 states over. At the end of the day, at least expect your cult to be original, bruh…"
The Alabama Released Time Credit Act will allow students to receive elective academic credit if they meet state requirements and complete missed work. Students cannot be released from core classes.
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