According to a new report, students in public schools were positively impacted by a new program centered on God and faith.

In a recent interview with CBN Digital, Joel Penton, founder and CEO of LifeWise Academy and author of "During School Hours: WHY and HOW LifeWise Academy is Reinstalling Religious Education into the Public School Day," explained how his program is impacting students in a positive manner.

"When LifeWise is implemented, attendance increases significantly," Penton said. "Kids are that much more interested in going to school that there's, in fact, a net increase in class time if LifeWise is implemented."

"Many more kids come to school so much more regularly that they actually get a net increase in class time," he added.

Per Faithwire, Penton's study compares schools with the LifeWise Academy program with others that do not have it.

Moreover, Penton shared that other educational processes also received benefits from LifeWise Academy.

"In-school suspension numbers drop, and out-of-school suspension numbers drop, as well," he added. "And, so now it's a much easier case when we go to principals and superintendents, even if they're not Christians, to say, ‘Hey, do you want your attendance to go up? Do you want suspensions to go down? Here's a program that doesn't cost you a penny; it engages the community and will have this impact.'"

Penton also addressed the legal structure that allows LifeWise and similar programs to function alongside public schools.

"LifeWise Academy provides Bible education to public school students during school hours, which to most people sounds crazy because of the whole separation of church and state and how the Bible has been removed from the public school day," Penton said. "But what very few people realize is that, in 1952, the Supreme Court actually ruled that public school students can be released from school during school hours to receive religious instruction."

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