Washington School District Apologizes, Pays $275,000 to Settle LifeWise Bible Study Case

EVERETT, Wash. —

Everett Public Schools in Washington state has settled a federal lawsuit over its treatment of LifeWise Academy, an Ohio-based ministry that teaches Bible classes to public school students off campus during the school day. The district agreed to apologize, change how it handles religious activities, and pay $275,000 in attorney's fees, KOMO News and Baptist Press reported.

The school board approved the settlement on Oct. 13, and First Liberty Institute, which represented LifeWise, announced it the next day. Under the terms, board members must take religious liberty training, and the district's written apology must stay on its website for six months.

The dispute centered on Emerson Elementary School. KOMO reported that LifeWise holds Bible classes twice a week at New Hope Assembly church during lunch and recess. Baptist Press said 55 Everett families had signed up. LifeWise said the district had required parents to give permission again every week, kept the ministry out of community events and flyer displays, and made students seal LifeWise materials, including Bibles, in envelopes in their backpacks. The settlement reverses those rules.

A federal judge in the Western District of Washington granted LifeWise a preliminary injunction against the district in April. One board director, Charles Adkins, had openly opposed the program at board meetings, and the district's apology addressed remarks made by directors. “The District apologizes for the frustration and difficulty its actions caused those students and families,” the apology said, according to Baptist Press.

The district told KOMO the settlement “allows the district to avoid further litigation and the expenditure of district funds.” A spokesperson said student release guidelines were updated to match the agreement but that there were no changes to the policy itself.

“Parents and students deserve to be treated with respect, regardless of their religious beliefs,” LifeWise chief executive Joel Penton said, according to Baptist Press. First Liberty attorney Holly Randall told KOMO the outcome is a win for all religious release-time programs.

Release-time programs rest on the U.S. Supreme Court's 1952 decision in Zorach v. Clauson, which allows off-site religious classes during school hours when they are privately funded and parents consent. Baptist Press reported that LifeWise, which started in Ohio in 2019, is confirmed for just over 1,500 schools in 40 states this school year.