News Release
For Immediate Release: 12.2.25
Contact: John Manning, media@firstliberty.org
Direct: 972-941-4453
Policy Undermining Release Time Programs Increases Washington School District Liability, Law Firms Warn
Board asked to correct draconian regulations, respond by December 5.
Everett, WA—First Liberty Institute and the law firm Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP sent a letter to the Everett, Washington school board on behalf of LifeWise Academy challenging its regulations for permitted release-time courses for students. The law firms warn that the regulations violate the First Amendment, impose subjective standards targeting religious groups, and will lead to costly litigation if not corrected.
You can read the letter here.
“Purposefully hindering the operation of an out-of-school program just because it’s religious is a direct violation of the First Amendment,” said Jeremy Dys, Senior Counsel at First Liberty Institute. “School districts must create policies consistent with the law requiring release time education, not policies that chill core First Amendment activity.”
Joel Penton, CEO of LifeWise Academy said, “We’re excited about the opportunity to welcome new families to LifeWise so that their children may experience the benefits of Bible-based character education. Religious release time programs such as LifeWise should be accessible to all families on a consistent basis.”
Barbara Smith Tyson, Partner and Co-Chair of the Appellate and Supreme Court Group at Bryan Cave Leighton Paiser LLP, said, “LifeWise affords devout parents the opportunity to ensure that their public school children obtain both educational opportunities on-campus and religious education off-campus. The school’s targeting of LifeWise for offering off-campus religious instruction to families who want it hurts those students and their families and offends our most basic constitutional freedoms.”
Though the attorneys did not make the letter public, it found its way into the hands of a community member who, in an expletive-laden, factually inaccurate YouTube video posted just before Thanksgiving, called upon Washington’s Attorney General Nick Brown to act because LifeWise is “coming for your children.”
LifeWise Academy is a nonprofit that provides Bible education to public school students during school hours under released time religious instruction laws—which the Supreme Court of the United States has upheld for nearly three-quarters of a century. LifeWise offers off-campus religious instruction to Emerson Elementary School students during lunch and recess—periods for which students are released from campus. When LifeWise began offering released-time religious instruction to students last year, it was immediately popular, and presently fifty-four families from Emerson Elementary send their children to LifeWise.
Despite strong parental support, however, the board singled-out LifeWise for onerous regulation and made hostile remarks about it. Board Director Charles Adkins falsely and offensively alleged that the mission of LifeWise is “to bring white supremacy and Christian nationalism to our schools” and to “snuff out the cultures, religion, and language of native kids and other kids of color.” Mr. Adkins’s histrionics continued with the malicious accusation that LifeWise is engaged in an “effort to turn our nation into a fascist theocracy.” Saying the quiet part out loud, he made his intentions clear: On these bases, Mr. Adkins declared that LifeWise “cannot be allowed to have access to our kids.”
Consequently, the board adopted regulations prohibiting LifeWise from participating in community events and displaying its flyers, requiring LifeWise students to conceal any written materials they receive from LifeWise in a sealed envelope in their backpacks, and requiring LifeWise parents to follow a needlessly complicated and burdensome permission-slip policy, namely, weekly reauthorization for students to participate in LifeWise. No other school program requires similar burdensome regulations.
According to the law firm’s letter, “However motivated, that criticism reflects profound animus toward LifeWise and the families whose children attend. It is both offensive and legally problematic. The Constitution does not permit this sort of targeted animus toward religion. To remedy any offense, LifeWise requests swift action by the Board so that it may avoid costly and protracted litigation.”
In 1952, the U.S. Supreme Court determined in Zorach v. Clauson that teaching the Bible during the public school day was constitutional and therefore legal in all 50 states, as long as such programs meet three conditions: The program must be held off campus, no government funds can be used for the program, and parental permission is required for child’s participation.
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About First Liberty Institute
First Liberty Institute is a non-profit public interest law firm and the largest legal organization in the nation dedicated exclusively to defending religious freedom for all Americans.
To arrange an interview, contact John manning at media@firstliberty.org or by calling 972-941-4453.
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