SSL Hours for Religious Activities and the First Amendment

[Anonymous]

We are new to MCPS and are trying to get the lay of the land for SSL hours. Our Sunday school has HS kids volunteering as aids with classes for younger children my daughter was interested in doing that to fulfill her SSL hours.

But, it seems like this would not be allowed under MCPS policy, see below.

Has anyone attempted to challenge that/sought an exemption within MCPS or outside of MCPS?

It looks like you can earn hours for assisting with a chess camp, nature program, sports program, basically anything but a religious program.

How does this not create a free exercise problem? When MCPS rents out buildings after hours, they aren't allowed to prohibit religious groups from renting; they have to offer them on the same terms they offer any other entity.

I don't see how allowing this would create an establishment clause problem because it is not MCPS choosing or endorsing the activity, any more than it is MCPS endorsing a nature group. It would be the student choosing to volunteer in a religious setting and students would have the option to volunteer for activities of any religion, or no religion at all.

https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/ssl/pages/faq/#:~:text=SSL%20hours%20are%20awarded%20only,the%20furtherance%20of%20religious%20tradition.

Can SSL hours be earned by acting as a class/teacher aide in a congregationally-based program, including tutoring/teaching a foreign language?
Generally not, SSL hours are awarded only in the context of an educational setting whose purpose is secular, not religious or faith-based. Tutoring or classroom assistance does not qualify for SSL in congregational programs whose curriculum focuses on instruction (or language instruction) for the purpose of the furtherance of religious observance.

[Anonymous]

Lots of kids ssl at their place of worship or some sort of religious congregation. Do they report to reach the required SSL hours? Some have said they do and it has been approved. But do all students who serve at a religious place? Nah.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are new to MCPS and are trying to get the lay of the land for SSL hours. Our Sunday school has HS kids volunteering as aids with classes for younger children my daughter was interested in doing that to fulfill her SSL hours.

But, it seems like this would not be allowed under MCPS policy, see below.

Has anyone attempted to challenge that/sought an exemption within MCPS or outside of MCPS?

It looks like you can earn hours for assisting with a chess camp, nature program, sports program, basically anything but a religious program.

How does this not create a free exercise problem? When MCPS rents out buildings after hours, they aren't allowed to prohibit religious groups from renting; they have to offer them on the same terms they offer any other entity.

I don't see how allowing this would create an establishment clause problem because it is not MCPS choosing or endorsing the activity, any more than it is MCPS endorsing a nature group. It would be the student choosing to volunteer in a religious setting and students would have the option to volunteer for activities of any religion, or no religion at all.

https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/ssl/pages/faq/#:~:text=SSL%20hours%20are%20awarded%20only,the%20furtherance%20of%20religious%20tradition.

Can SSL hours be earned by acting as a class/teacher aide in a congregationally-based program, including tutoring/teaching a foreign language?
Generally not, SSL hours are awarded only in the context of an educational setting whose purpose is secular, not religious or faith-based. Tutoring or classroom assistance does not qualify for SSL in congregational programs whose curriculum focuses on instruction (or language instruction) for the purpose of the furtherance of religious observance.

I was surprised to find this out as well. I see teens volunteering at religious based activities and assumed they counted for ssl hours. Disappointing.

[Anonymous]

This is like the question on the other thread asking if athletes can count their sports practice to get out of the PE requirement. No one is stopping your daughter from volunteering at Sunday school. But she’ll need to do other volunteering for SSL hours that follows the guidelines everyone else adheres to. It’s not hard at all to get SSL hours. You don’t need an exception.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is like the question on the other thread asking if athletes can count their sports practice to get out of the PE requirement. No one is stopping your daughter from volunteering at Sunday school. But she’ll need to do other volunteering for SSL hours that follows the guidelines everyone else adheres to. It’s not hard at all to get SSL hours. You don’t need an exception.

Oh come on! That is not similar at all.

[Anonymous]

Eh, we get SSL hours for our church’s holiday bazaar.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Eh, we get SSL hours for our church’s holiday bazaar.

How? I thought the organizations had to be approved.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Eh, we get SSL hours for our church’s holiday bazaar.

How? I thought the organizations had to be approved.

DP. I think the policy says the volunteering can be for a religious institution as long as the activity itself isn’t religious. So if you help at a church bazaar or a synagogue outing to clean up a river, it’s ok, but if you are helping at Sunday school where the activities are religious, you are out of luck.

[Anonymous]

If kids not in MoCo can use these service hours as SSL, what makes it OK for MoCo to disallow this type of service?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Eh, we get SSL hours for our church’s holiday bazaar.

How? I thought the organizations had to be approved.

DP. I think the policy says the volunteering can be for a religious institution as long as the activity itself isn’t religious. So if you help at a church bazaar or a synagogue outing to clean up a river, it’s ok, but if you are helping at Sunday school where the activities are religious, you are out of luck.

Helping a teacher in a classroom is helping a teacher in a classroom. How does the nature of the service change based on what the teacher happens to be teaching? If the service student is helping a toddler use scissors to cut out a picture of a lamb, why does it matter whether the lamb is going to pasted into a barnyard or a barn where there happens to be a baby in a manger nearby?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Eh, we get SSL hours for our church’s holiday bazaar.

How? I thought the organizations had to be approved.

No clue. I guess they are approved?

It’s a neighborhood church near the school.

[Anonymous]

The organization needs to go through training and the tasks be approved. It’s easy to do the training and get things approved. You cannot claim ssl hours for a non approved organization or task.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Eh, we get SSL hours for our church’s holiday bazaar.

How? I thought the organizations had to be approved.

No clue. I guess they are approved?

It’s a neighborhood church near the school.

You cannot guess. The church needs someone to go through the training and get the hours approved. Not hard.

https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/ssl/pages/nonprofit/

For churches.

https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/volunteercenter/Resources/Files/sslfaithbased.pdf

[Anonymous]

Teens can earn SSL hours through their church if the work they do benefits the wider community. If the work only benefits members of the church, it doesn't count.

These don't count:
* helping with Sunday School
* serving as a reader, usher, acolyte, choir member, etc.

These do count:
* direct service that is coordinated through a church such as making bag lunches for the unhoused, helping at a clothing intake center, etc.
* volunteering at events that are open to all. for example, our church has a Halloween Trunk or Treat and 90%+ of the kids who come don't go to our church. Teens run the games and get SSL hours.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Teens can earn SSL hours through their church if the work they do benefits the wider community. If the work only benefits members of the church, it doesn't count.

These don't count:
* helping with Sunday School
* serving as a reader, usher, acolyte, choir member, etc.

These do count:
* direct service that is coordinated through a church such as making bag lunches for the unhoused, helping at a clothing intake center, etc.
* volunteering at events that are open to all. for example, our church has a Halloween Trunk or Treat and 90%+ of the kids who come don't go to our church. Teens run the games and get SSL hours.

Yes, this.
My kids earned a ton of SSL hours through our church’s youth group because they were doing service projects for the community. They didn’t get any hours when they served as acolytes or Sunday school assistants. That seems entirely reasonable to me.