Early History
The original idea of released time in the United States was first discussed in 1905 at a school conference in New York City. The proposal was that public elementary schools should be closed one day a week in addition to Sunday so that parents who so desired could have their children receive religious instruction off the school premises. This idea was later implemented by Dr. William Wirt, an educator and superintendent of the school establishment of Gary, Indiana, in 1914. In the first years of Wirt's implementation, over 600 students participated in off-campus religious education.
Most released time programs were held off school property, and the public school system had no involvement in the religious programs taught off school property.
The released time program began to grow rapidly. In 1922 released time programs were active in 23 states. Approximately 40,000 students from 200 school districts were enrolled in such programs. In 1932, thirty states had active released time programs in 400 communities with enrollment of 250,000 students. In 1942, participation reached 1.5 million students in 46 states. Released time reached its peak enrollment totals in 1947 when 2 million students were enrolled in some 2,200 communities. During this period, legislation paving the way for released time programs had been adopted by 12 states.
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