Religion classes in school - Megathread

I’ll just say what I’ve already said, though maybe with more imagery—100 women, 200 breasts. 😬 Regarding religious education, things vary wildly—not just by town, but from neighborhood to neighborhood, depending on the school, the teacher, or the local priest. Look, if you're worried because your kid needs sacraments one day and you want them in religion class, your best bet is to just ask around within the school and your local parish to see how things work in your area. You need to find out if there's a strict rule that kids must take the school version to get sacraments, or if the school demands they attend church services—basically, check for any specific requirements. People on forums like this usually just end up bickering about their own individual experiences anyway.

One thing that makes Cleveland a bit different—a lot of kids don't actually take religion class. So, that whole "better to enroll them just so they aren't left out" mentality doesn't really apply here. In my kid's class, more than half the students skip it, and the schools are smart enough to organize those gaps in the schedule so the kids who aren't enrolled don't miss a beat.

One more thing while I'm at it. If anyone is planning to withdraw their child from the school's religion program, you have to submit a formal request by August 15th at the latest. After that, the window is closed.

I’ll just say what I’ve said before—to put it bluntly, it’s basically 100 women and 200 breasts 😬. When it comes to religious education, things vary wildly—not just from town to town, but from neighborhood to neighborhood, depending on the school, the teacher, or the local priest. Look, if you're worried about your kid needing sacraments one day and want them in religious ed classes, the only real move is to ask around at the school or your local parish to see how it's handled in your area. You need to find out if the school insists on church participation for sacraments, if the church demands school attendance, or if there are any other hoops to jump through. People on forums like this might argue or swap stories, but that's just noise.

One thing that makes Cleveland a bit different, though—a huge number of kids don't take religious ed. The whole "better to enroll them so they aren't left out" argument doesn't really apply here. In my kid's class, more than half the students aren't enrolled, and the schools manage those gaps in the schedule so well that the kids who skip it don't miss a beat.

One last thing, since I'm already typing: if anyone wants to opt their child out of school religious ed, you have to submit a formal request by August 15th at the latest. After that, the window is closed.

northerntiger9 said:I’ll just say what I’ve said before—to put it bluntly, it’s basically 100 women and 200 breasts 😬. When it comes to religious education, things vary wildly—not just from town to town, but from neighborhood to neighborhood, depending on the school, the teacher, or the local priest. Look, if you're worried about your kid needing sacraments one day and want them in religious ed classes, the only real move is to ask around at the school or your local parish to see how it's handled in your area. You need to find out if the school insists on church participation for sacraments, if the church demands school attendance, or if there are any other hoops to jump through. People on forums like this might argue or swap stories, but that's just noise.

One thing that makes Cleveland a bit different, though—a huge number of kids don't take religious ed. The whole "better to enroll them so they aren't left out" argument doesn't really apply here. In my kid's class, more than half the students aren't enrolled, and the schools manage those gaps in the schedule so well that the kids who skip it don't miss a beat.

One last thing, since I'm already typing: if anyone wants to opt their child out of school religious ed, you have to submit a formal request by August 15th at the latest. After that, the window is closed.

I suppose that rule applies to all elective subjects too—things like signing up, opting out, or switching between ethics and religion classes.
The request needs to be handed in to the school board by August 15th, though if you want to stay ahead of the curve, maybe try getting it in by July 1st. That way, when the faculty meets for the final summer session before the new school year kicks off, they’ll actually have an accurate headcount for each subject, which makes it much easier for them to finalize the schedules without everything becoming a total mess.

Why on earth do they call this a "request" instead of an actual formal demand? Usually, you’d use the word "request" when you're asking for some kind of special favor or a right that isn't already guaranteed by default.
But getting a printout of your voter registration records—that's just standard procedure, isn't it? It should be automatic. 🤷

Tyler Ruiz502 said:Why on earth do they call this a "request" instead of an actual formal demand? Usually, you’d use the word "request" when you're asking for some kind of special favor or a right that isn't already guaranteed by default.
But getting a printout of your voter registration records—that's just standard procedure, isn't it? It should be automatic. 🤷

Well, back in high school, dropping an elective wasn't really a given at all.
You have to take one, I suppose; you just get to pick which one. You can't exactly opt out of having any electives whatsoever.

Does the specific terminology used in the memo actually matter that much, though?🙄
Maybe they call it a petition because once you factor in everyone's choices—which then dictates teacher workloads, time slots, and the whole master schedule—everything becomes a bit more complicated.
And if too many people start swapping or dropping classes at once, the whole thing could potentially collapse like a house of cards.

But hey, if you’re really that determined, you can always just submit a formal request. They'll respect it just the same.
Honestly, you could probably just scribble your request on a scrap of paper torn from a kid's notebook—no fancy title or anything—and they’d still take you seriously. 😉 I’ve actually done it myself.

Sarah Hall53 said:But hey, if you’re really that determined, you can always just submit a formal request. They'll respect it just the same.
Honestly, you could probably just scribble your request on a scrap of paper torn from a kid's notebook—no fancy title or anything—and they’d still take you seriously. 😉 I’ve actually done it myself.

not here in the States, though.

I feel like you guys are being a little strict about this—back home, if a parent showed up in person to hand over a request or a formal note (mostly just so there wouldn’t be any doubt about who actually wrote it), they’d honestly accept a scribble from a notebook.

They wouldn't let me officially withdraw from my Latin class, so I just stopped showing up. Eventually, the unexcavated absences piled up so high that during the graduation ceremony, they decided to just drop me from the rolls instead of formally expelling me from school.😂

Sarah Hall53 said:I feel like you guys are being a little strict about this—back home, if a parent showed up in person to hand over a request or a formal note (mostly just so there wouldn’t be any doubt about who actually wrote it), they’d honestly accept a scribble from a notebook.

it really needs to be a legitimate, properly organized piece of paper submitted to the registrar on time, signed by an adult, which I guess means high school seniors can sign their own stuff at that point.😁
not many people bother to write them out by hand, but if it has all the necessary elements of a formal request and gets turned in before the deadline, it'll likely be fine.

northerntiger9 said:I’ll just say what I’ve said before—to put it bluntly, it’s basically 100 women and 200 breasts 😬. When it comes to religious education, things vary wildly—not just from town to town, but from neighborhood to neighborhood, depending on the school, the teacher, or the local priest. Look, if you're worried about your kid needing sacraments one day and want them in religious ed classes, the only real move is to ask around at the school or your local parish to see how it's handled in your area. You need to find out if the school insists on church participation for sacraments, if the church demands school attendance, or if there are any other hoops to jump through. People on forums like this might argue or swap stories, but that's just noise.

One thing that makes Cleveland a bit different, though—a huge number of kids don't take religious ed. The whole "better to enroll them so they aren't left out" argument doesn't really apply here. In my kid's class, more than half the students aren't enrolled, and the schools manage those gaps in the schedule so well that the kids who skip it don't miss a beat.

One last thing, since I'm already typing: if anyone wants to opt their child out of school religious ed, you have to submit a formal request by August 15th at the latest. After that, the window is closed.

And honestly, those rules seem to change depending on which school district you're dealing with.
In my experience, aiming for July 1st is the safest bet—just to make sure you have a paper trail proving they actually received your request.
I actually know of two families who were required to get signatures from both parents. I'm not sure if that was because they were going through a divorce or if the school administration is just being extra strict about the curriculum, but just a heads-up for anyone planning ahead so you aren't caught off guard...

urbantinker8 said:it really needs to be a legitimate, properly organized piece of paper submitted to the registrar on time, signed by an adult, which I guess means high school seniors can sign their own stuff at that point.😁
not many people bother to write them out by hand, but if it has all the necessary elements of a formal request and gets turned in before the deadline, it'll likely be fine.

Look, they had every single required detail and they handed it in right on schedule, so it was totally valid. But honestly? Just out of pure principle, I refused to call it a "request"—I don't feel like I have anyone to ask permission from. I just titled it: "Subject: Withdrawal from Religious Studies."

Sent from my iPhone using Reddit

Tyler Ruiz502 said:Look, they had every single required detail and they handed it in right on schedule, so it was totally valid. But honestly? Just out of pure principle, I refused to call it a "request"—I don't feel like I have anyone to ask permission from. I just titled it: "Subject: Withdrawal from Religious Studies."

Sent from my iPhone using Reddit

oh, man.🤦
if that’s what counts as a win for you...👍

There’s no changing the curriculum. It would just create unnecessary headaches for the school staff.
?

And then people have the nerve to claim that students are actually the priority in our education system.

Sent from my iPhone using Reddit

There won't be any changes to the curriculum, supposedly because it might cause "issues" for the school staff.
?

And then people have the nerve to claim that students are actually the center of the educational system.

Sent from my iPhone using Reddit

nimblelynx7 said:There’s no changing the curriculum. It would just create unnecessary headaches for the school staff.
?

And then people have the nerve to claim that students are actually the priority in our education system.

Sent from my iPhone using Reddit

did anyone actually write somewhere that there "won't be any changes to electives"?🤦 🤦

Honestly, I am just completely exhausted by all these annoying trolls who apparently don't know how to read for actual comprehension.🥱

You claimed that changing an elective shouldn't be approved regardless of how perfectly the request is filed—if doing so messes up the scheduling or throws any of the teachers' workflows into chaos. I’m with Tyler Ruiz502 on this one. There’s really no point in begging for it.

To looks like they’re prioritizing the teachers' interests over what the students actually need.

We dealt with those kinds of "elective" subjects too. Though, back then, we actually had the choice between religion or ethics. They actually bothered to organize an ethics class just for our group of 14 kids in the third grade.

We were officially given a choice between three or four specialized courses, but it was always a total sham. Every single year, right at the start of the term, they’d just notify us that our selections had been overruled. Apparently, our preferences didn't matter—they just shoved us into whatever classes fit the teachers' schedules or filled the gaps in their hourly requirements. Typical.

Sent from my iPhone using Reddit

nimblelynx7 said:You claimed that changing an elective shouldn't be approved regardless of how perfectly the request is filed—if doing so messes up the scheduling or throws any of the teachers' workflows into chaos. I’m with Tyler Ruiz502 on this one. There’s really no point in begging for it.

To looks like they’re prioritizing the teachers' interests over what the students actually need.

We dealt with those kinds of "elective" subjects too. Though, back then, we actually had the choice between religion or ethics. They actually bothered to organize an ethics class just for our group of 14 kids in the third grade.

We were officially given a choice between three or four specialized courses, but it was always a total sham. Every single year, right at the start of the term, they’d just notify us that our selections had been overruled. Apparently, our preferences didn't matter—they just shoved us into whatever classes fit the teachers' schedules or filled the gaps in their hourly requirements. Typical.

Sent from my iPhone using Reddit

No, that isn't what I wrote.
I mean, maybe try reading other people's posts a bit more carefully instead of twisting what they actually said.😉

I honestly can't even begin to wrap my head around how some people operate—it’s just... it's baffling, really. I was sitting there thinking about it earlier, and it just strikes me as such a bizarre way to approach things. It's like people just decide to be completely nonsensical without a second thought. Anyway, I don't know, maybe I'm just overthinking it—which, let's face it, is a chronic problem for me—but there's definitely something fundamentally off about that whole vibe. Just totally out there. Tyler Ruiz502 says:
Oh, good grief.🤦
If that actually made you happy...👍

There we go. 😬 If you’re actually feeling some sort of satisfaction from being completely blindsided—well, honestly, I’m just glad I could be the one to make it happen for you. 🤣

Semantics matter more than people realize. It’s like how I never actually ask my boss for permission to step out, I just let them know I have to go; one is a request, while the other is just stating a fact. 😁