To preface, I'm LDS and also graduated from the LDS seminary during High School. The program I was in didn't have released-time, instead we met before school from 6:00am to 6:45am.

Released-time is prevalent mostly in Utah and Southern idaho, but I know of places in Arizona and washington that have it. Released-time only works where there is suitable private property adjacent to the school that students can easily get on and off campus during the shool hours.

Its perfectly legal for parents to release their children from school to attend any religious program that does not occur in public school property, use public school funds, and is not required, promoted by or endorsed by the shool.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Released_time

Legal challenges
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McCollum v. Board of Education

In 1945 Vashti McCollum brought legal action against the Champaign, Illinois public school district. McCollum, who did not profess religious beliefs, was the mother of a student in the district. McCollum's suit stated that her eight-yead-old son had been coerced and ostracized by school officials because his family had chosen to not participate in the district's in-school religious instruction program. The Champaign district's religious instruction was held during regular school hours in the classrooms in Champaign's public schools, and was taught by members of a local religious association with the approval of school officials.

McCollum's suit argued that religious instruction held during regular school hours on public school property constituted an establishment of religion in violation of the U.S. Constitution, and violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

The state district court ruled against McCollum, as did the Illinois Supreme Court upon appeal. However, in 1948, the United States Supreme Court ruled 8 to 1 in favor of McCollum, reversing the lower courts' decision. [2]. The high court ruled that the Champaign program was unconstitutional since it used the state's compulsory education system to aid in the teaching of religious doctrine, and because tax-supported school buildings were being used.

In the aftermath of the McCollum decision, the number of released time classes dropped by 12 percent across the nation. [3]
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Zorach v. Clauson

In 1952, the case of Zorach v. Clauson came before the Supreme Court. The case involved the education law of New York State, particularly a regulation by which a public school was permitted to release students during school hours for religious instruction or devotional exercises. In a 6 to 3 ruling, the high court upheld the New York law.

In the majority opinion, Justice William O. Douglas wrote that New York's program "involves neither religious instruction in public schools nor the expenditure of public funds", unlike the earlier McCollum case that the Zorach plaintiffs had cited as precedent.

Douglas wrote that a public school "may not coerce anyone to attend church, to observe a religious holiday, or to take religious instruction. But it can close its doors or suspend its operations as to those who want to repair to their religious sanctuary for worship or instruction. No more than that is undertaken here."

The Court's opinion stated that

In the McCollum case the classrooms were used for religious instruction and the force of the public school was used to promote that instruction. Here, as we have said, the public schools do no more than accommodate their schedules to a program of outside religious instruction. We follow the McCollum case. But we cannot expand it to cover the present released time program unless separation of Church and State means that public institutions can make no adjustments of their schedules to accommodate the religious needs of the people. We cannot read into the Bill of Rights such a philosophy of hostility to religion.

Now as the source to having the "dumbest" kids in the 50 states, I'd suggest you keep looking, since the per capita population of students attending released-time seminary in your area couldn't possibly be large enough to skew the overall population of students.

-Steve G.