Christian teacher Shawnae Carlisle is celebrating a big win after her school district refused to honor her time off requests for religious holy days. Carlisle is a member of The Church of God, a Worldwide Association (COGWA), a branch of the Christian faith that also observes Old Testament holidays like the Feast of Tabernacles. Carlisle has been a public school science teacher for 15 years, and during that time she never experienced any issues with requesting unpaid time off for any of the religious holidays she observes. She has always ensured there are substitute teachers in place to cover her days off.

That changed, however, in October 2025 while a teacher at Southeast Elementary School in Salem, Ohio, when she made her usual request for time off for the Feast of Tabernacles. This time, the district denied Carlisle’s request. According to Carlisle’s legal team, the District’s reasonings for the denial “did not comport with its treatment of other teachers in the school.” Carlisle’s religious conviction for observing the Feast led her to still secure substitutes for those dates despite the denial and she took the time off. “When faced with a conflict between what the school district demanded and what I believe God requires, I am compelled to obey God rather than man. Therefore, at the moment my superintendent informed me that my request for unpaid leave would not be granted, I understood clearly what I was still commanded to do,” Carlisle told The Christian Post. As a consequence, the District suspended Carlisle without pay for five days.

Following her suspension, Carlisle sought legal counsel from the First Liberty Institute and the law firm Ashbrook Byrne Kresge Flowers LLC. First Liberty sent a demand letter to the school, which resulted in the district agreeing to grant Carlisle a religious accommodation for taking unpaid time for religious observances. Cliff Martin, Senior Counsel at First Liberty, celebrated the decision. “We are grateful that after receiving our letter about Ms. Carlisle’s religious liberty rights, the Salem City School District reversed its prior suspension of Ms. Carlisle for observing religious holy days and instead agreed to accommodate her religious observances going forward. Salem City School District’s actions demonstrate how all school districts can and should respect their religious employees.” Ben Flowers, attorney at Ashbrook Byrne Kresge Flowers LLC also acknowledged the win, saying, “Both teaching and faith are important to Ms. Carlisle. No one should be forced to violate their religious beliefs in order to keep their job, and we are glad that with this new religious accommodation, she will not have to choose between the two.”