LifeWise asks to rent Westfield Township hall to teach Cloverleaf Middle School students

WESTFIELD TWP. — LifeWise Academy has asked Westfield Township to use the township hall as a space to teach Cloverleaf Middle School students. Martha Oakes, a representative of LifeWise Academy, said she submitted an application to rent the hall for May 13, 20 and 27, from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. "The usage would be for LifeWise Academy to hold classes for sixth grade students here," she said. "We currently hold classes Monday through Thursday at Grace Church for first through fifth graders." Oakes said the organization wants to expand to teach Cloverleaf Middle School students. She said the rental of the township property would cut transportation time and allow for more time to teach. "The middle school is allowing us to have the classes, but they are doing it during lunchtime, which is only a 30-minute period," she said. "When we have the elementary school kids, we have them for 40 minutes. Because we have them for a shorter time, we thought it would be better to have them on this side of the highway." Oakes said they would use the three rentals in May as a test to see if the building would work for their needs and can the organization get everything accomplished in the short period of time. She said if it was found to work, then next fall the organization would rent for a longer period of time, likely 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., one day a week to hold lessons for sixth, seventh and eighth graders. LifeWise Academy is a release-time religious instruction program. Oakes said it must be held off school premises, it is privately funded, so no school property or funding can be used and participation must be approved by a child's parents. She said they are not allowed to operate in the school because of the separation of church and state. As part of the rental, Oakes said the organization was looking to have the rental fees waived, though if that wasn't possible, they would still be interested in renting the hall. The trustees asked several questions about the logistics of the program, including how many students they would expect and if they would use township equipment for their lessons. Oakes said they are expecting about 40 students, but the bus can transport around 70. The students would be taught and supervised by three or four adults during the session. "What I will tell is that the kids are incredibly well-behaved," she said. "It's a very short period of time." Trustee Michael Schmidt said he was concerned with the number of students to teachers. "I don't have a problem with the program or anything like that," he said. "My concern is having 70 kids plus or minus here in a very short period of time, eating lunch and only three adults." The trustees said they would discuss the rental with their legal counsel and get back to Oakes as soon as they can. Contact reporter Patrick Rhonemus at (330) 721–4050 or prhonemus@medina-gazette.com.