Seminary is intended to be a weekday religious education program. Factors to consider when establishing the appropriate type, or types, of seminary include (1) adherence to Church Board of Education policies; (2) LDS population density; (3) Church financial and physical facility constraints; (4) travel—distance, expense, and safety; (5) legal constraints; and (6) local school policy and calendars. With the approval of the area director, adaptations may be made for eligible students with disabilities. There are three types of seminary programs available: 1. Released-time Seminary Programs:
Released-time seminary programs are established adjacent to a specific school. They are generally held in Church-owned seminary buildings. With the approval of the Church Board of Education and in cooperation with local Church school boards and adjacent school
administrators, released-time seminary may be established in some areas of the United States and Canada.
Released-time seminary classes are taught by, or under the direction of, full-time S&I
teachers and administrators and are held during school hours according to the class schedule at the adjacent school.
2. Stake Seminary Programs:
Stake seminary programs are established in stakes rather than adjacent to a specific school. They are established under the direction of local stake priesthood leaders in counsel with the S&I coordinator. A stake seminary class may be taught in a Church meetinghouse, the home of a stake teacher, or another location convenient to students.
Stake seminary programs offer daily, home-study, online, special education, and deaf education classes. They are taught by stake teachers and supervised by full-time S&I administrators.
3. Adapted Seminary Programs:
Adapted seminary programs are generally established adjacent to a school designed to accommodate a specific disability’s population and are usually held in Church-owned buildings. These programs fill the needs of students with disabilities or other unique circumstances such as alternative education students, special education students, deaf students, and so forth. Adapted programs are established at the request of S&I
organized in campus or stake seminary programs. The classes are taught by either full-time or stake teachers and are under the direction of full-time S&I administrators.
When an existing seminary program is divided or reassigned, the appropriate records should be transferred to the new administrator.
Area offices ensure that each stake within an area is assigned an agent seminary program to assist with seminary operations. Additionally, where necessary, area offices ensure that the schools adjacent to each released-time seminary are assigned to the correct S&I program.
Agent Seminary Program (February 4, 2013)
Each stake within an area is assigned by the area office to an agent seminary program. This agent program provides a primary contact for stake leaders on matters of seminary operations, including items such as enrollment efforts and graduation. Seminary programs may serve as an agent program to multiple stakes, but each stake is assigned only one agent program. In
released-time seminary locations, the agent seminary program should generally work with those stakes that comprise the local seminary board of education.
Local Priesthood Direction (May 27, 2013)
The stake presidency should encourage and monitor the participation of eligible youth in seminary programs in their stake. They should regularly include Church education matters on their stake leadership meeting agendas. At the invitation of the stake presidency, a local S&I representative may attend the portion of the meetings when these items are discussed. To be most helpful, a local S&I representative should submit agenda items to be considered for each of these meetings. Items that might be considered during these meetings could include: 1. Plans for enrolling youth in seminary
2. Correlating and approving seminary calendar items 3. Reporting on enrollment, attendance, and completion 4. Planning seminary graduation
5. Discussing the challenges facing the seminary program. 6. Calling and supporting stake teachers
For more detailed information on seminary matters under the direction of local priesthood leaders, see “Responsibilities of Priesthood Leaders” in section 11.1 of Handbook 1: Stake
Presidents and Bishops [2010]).
Released-time Seminary
Released-time Seminary Facilities (November 7, 2006)
New released-time seminary programs should be anticipated several years in advance so Church Board of Education approval for the program can be obtained, local school board decisions allowing released-time can be in place, and real estate and facility needs can be placed in a timely manner on area physical facilities annual plans. Facility needs should be coordinated with local priesthood leaders, S&I personnel, and the Church Physical Facilities Department to promote shared-use wherever possible. (For additional information, see “Shared-use of
Facilities” in the “Physical Facilities and Real Estate” section.)
Seminary 3-2
Released-time Seminary and Public School Relationships (Including Charter Schools) (March 24, 2014)
Seminary administrators and teachers are to ensure the separation of public school and seminary programs and at the same time develop and maintain cordial, cooperative relationships with public school personnel and support of public school programs. The
following guidelines provide a framework for resolving most questions and should be followed by all personnel involved in the released-time seminary program. Area directors should contact an assistant administrator if further direction is needed.
1. A parent or legal guardian needs to complete the seminary registration form before a student may participate in the seminary program. The registration form can be completed online or a paper copy may be completed and given to the student’s seminary teacher. Acceptance of the parental agreement online will automatically be noted in WISE. If a paper copy is signed, the local support specialist or program administrator should note this in WISE in the individual student’s registration information section. Paper copies of the seminary registration form are available for download at seminary.lds.org. Only the approved registration form should be used.
2. Seminary attendance should not be reported to the public school except for repeated unauthorized absences that may lead to the revoking of a student’s released-time privilege. 3. Unauthorized absences from seminary may violate the public school’s released-time
agreement. In cases of excessive unauthorized absences, the school principal and counselor should be alerted as they may be in a position to discourage truancy. The seminary principal should talk to the student and the parents and alert the bishop to help improve the student’s attendance. The goal is to keep the student enrolled and attending seminary. If there is no resolution, the seminary principal should send a letter to the parents, with a courtesy copy to the school principal or counselor, informing the parents that the released-time privilege for their son or daughter has been canceled and they will need to petition the school for readmission to school for that class period.
4. Seminary staff may attend but should not participate, as identified seminary staff, in public school activities of any kind for which official sanction might be implied.
5. Seminary grades should not be made part of students’ public school records. 6. No public funds or resources should be used to aid the seminary.
a. Generally public property cannot be used for seminary purposes. In rare cases the use of public property can be considered when certain legal requirements are met—refer to “Leases” in the Physical Facility and Real Estate section.
b. Arrangements for interpreters and personal assistants should be made by the parents or guardians of the student requiring services. When approved by the school district,
publicly paid interpreters and personal assistants may provide services in S&I classrooms as part of the student’s “leisure activities” or “life skills” training. Parents should notify the S&I program administrator (seminary principal, coordinator) with a written copy of the arrangements for services provided to their child during a released-time seminary class.
7. When requested in writing by the public school administrator, limited seminary class time may be used for public school business.
8. Obtaining goods or services through the public schools that are not available to the public, or are available at lower prices than are applicable to the public, is not approved.
9. Seminaries should not use the school public address system for announcements to the public school. The public school may, however, make announcements on the seminary public address system.
10. Seminaries should not solicit coverage, nor purchase advertising space, in school yearbooks. 11. When organizing adapted classes, the public school administrator and the head of special
education programs should be consulted to: a. Coordinate scheduling
b. Resolve concerns about transportation from the public school to seminary c. Review emergency protocols and coordination
d. Discuss parental requests for interpreter or personal assistant services
12. Student records may not be requested from a student’s school unless accompanied by a completed and signed Consent to Release Student Medical Information form (this form is included in the Requesting Student Medical Information packet (06246) located on the website. For more information, see “Confidentiality and Privacy” in the Information Management section.
Released-time Seminary Relationships with Private Schools (May 27, 2013)
The following guidelines provide a framework for resolving most questions and should be followed by all personnel involved in the released-time seminary program. Area directors should contact an assistant administrator if further direction is needed.
1. Students are invited to participate in regularly established seminary programs in their area. 2. If there is a sufficient number of students at the private school, a request can be made for an
authorized S&I teacher through the local area director.
3. If a released-time program is established in conjunction with a private school, the local Church board of education serving the area in which the private school is located will also serve that seminary program.
4. Arrangements for interpreters and personal assistants should be made by the parents or guardians of the student requiring services. A written copy of the agreement should be forwarded to the administrator of the seminary program.
Released-time Seminary Classes (May 26, 2014)
Released-time classes are held during school hours on each day school is in session. Classes may be held before and/or after the regular school schedule to provide greater flexibility for students to be enrolled in seminary. In some cases, in order to conform to the type of class schedule and/or length of class period of the adjacent school, a different schedule is authorized. The number of classes, and so forth, are to be determined jointly by the area director, seminary principal, and the released-time seminary local Church board of education. Classes are to be taught by, or under the direction of, full-time teachers and administrators. Classes should be held on each day school is in session.
Seminary 3-4
Classes should be organized with the same number of terms as the schools the students are attending (between 2–4 terms per year). Where this is not feasible, seminary should be organized with at least 2 terms of comparatively equal length per year.
Online Seminary in Released-time Areas (February 17, 2014)
Online classes may be organized as a replacement for home-study classes in released-time areas. They are not intended to replace face-to-face classes. Students are considered for online seminary in the same way they are considered for home-study seminary in released-time areas. For example, students who cannot meet each weekday because of limiting factors—such as school credit concerns, social needs, learning needs, and so forth—could be considered. To participate, students must receive approval from the stake president or his designee, parents, and seminary principal and have access to the required technology.
When fewer than ten students from a given program require an online class, they should be combined with a class from another seminary program in the area.
Released-time Seminary Programs with Declining Enrollments (May 27, 2013)
S&I will continue to provide a full-time teacher for released-time seminary programs with diminishing enrollments as long as there is an enrollment of 80 or more students and where at least three classes can be taught. (A reasonable effort should be made to give such teachers additional assignments as part of their workload).
When these thresholds are not met for two consecutive years and the projected seminary potential does not increase, the full-time teacher will be replaced by a part-time teacher(s) or a stake teacher(s) and any support staff FTE will be reallocated.
A full-time teacher may continue to teach the released-time classes in programs that have 30–79 students enrolled if the teacher has other teaching or coordinating assignments that increase their load sufficiently to warrant a full-time employee.
If the enrollment drops below 30 students for two consecutive years with no significant increase in projected enrollment, S&I will transition to a daily program with stake teachers and consider divesting itself of the seminary building.
Stake Seminary (May 26, 2014)
Stake seminary is offered through (1) daily classes that meet outside of school hours when local schools are in session, (2) home-study classes, or (3) online classes. Classes are usually
organized within the ward or stake depending on the number of students available and the distance students must travel as well as security, availability of technology, and local economic conditions. Preference is given to classes where students meet face-to-face. The type of class offered and the students who may participate (including from other stakes) is determined locally by the stake president in counsel with the S&I coordinator. Classes are not held on Sunday unless the Church Board of Education has given specific approval. Where possible, seminary classes should be organized with the same number of terms as the schools the
students are attending (between 2–4 terms per year). Where this is not feasible, seminary should be organized with at least 2 terms of comparatively equal length per year.
On occasion, daily, home-study, and online seminary students within a stake may meet together in person for instruction under the direction of the S&I representative. Under the direction of stake Young Men and Young Women leaders, an activity could be held in conjunction with this instruction.
Facility and Equipment Support for Stake Seminary (May 27, 2013)
Facility support for stake seminary classes is the responsibility of the local stake. Stake presidents can request approved equipment and furnishings through the local facilities management group. The rental of facilities for daily or home-study seminary classes is not authorized. It is the responsibility of each participant (teacher, student/family) to provide their own technological hardware and internet access to participate in online seminary. Additional computer technical support for online teachers and students may be requested from the ward or stake technology specialist.
Daily Seminary Classes (October 22, 2012)
Daily seminary classes should meet each day school is in session either before or after school. If a school holds classes six days a week, seminary classes should be held on five of those days. The recommended class length is fifty minutes, with a minimum of forty minutes of instruction. Classes are generally taught by stake seminary teachers.
Online Seminary Classes (May 27, 2013)
Online classes can be organized at a ward, stake, or multi-stake level where students cannot meet each weekday because of distance or other compelling factors. Online classes are not intended to replace established daily or released-time classes. Online seminary is preferred to home-study classes when students and teachers have daily access to a computer with a high- speed internet connection. With stake president(s) approval, and in counsel with S&I
coordinator(s), students from multiple stakes may participate in an online seminary class. In order to participate, parents must submit a completed Seminary Registration (PD50048392) form and have daily access to a computer with a high-speed internet connection.
Under the direction of a stake teacher, online students complete online assignments four days each week. Additionally, the teacher and all students meet together in one face-to-face class each week. In locations where this is not possible, the weekly class may be held virtually (using web conferencing tools).
Home-Study Seminary Classes (May 27, 2013)
Home-study seminary classes can be organized in places where students cannot attend a daily class because of distance or other factors such as a disability. Students are provided with S&I- prepared materials to assist in their daily (weekday) study at home. Students participate in one or more classes each week under the direction of a stake teacher to discuss their studies.
Home-School Students (May 27, 2013)
Home-school students who desire seminary credit should attend the regular released-time or stake seminary class available in their area. Home-school students and others not attending adjacent schools may enroll in seminary if they will turn fourteen or older during the school year and they are at least in the ninth grade or its equivalent. Seminary credit will be granted for participation in programs that are approved and offered by the stake under the direction of
Seminary 3-6
the stake president and an assigned S&I teacher. These teachers are expected to adhere to the criterion specified above under “Home-Study Classes.”