News Release
For Immediate Release: 10.13.26
Contact: Natalie Konstans, media@firstliberty.org
Direct: 972-941-4453
Religious Release Time Program Reaches Settlement with Washington School District
School district agrees to change policies, pay attorney’s fees, and publicly apologize for its hostile treatment towards the release time religious instruction program.
Everett, WA—First Liberty Institute and Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner, LLP settled the lawsuit on behalf of LifeWise Academy against the Everett, Washington school district. The settlement, as approved by the Everett Public Schools Board of Directors, requires the Board to undergo religious liberty training, make changes to the District’s policies governing religious activities, issue a public written apology for its actions visible for six months, and pay $275,000 in attorney’s fees.
Joel Penton, CEO of LifeWise Academy said, “This settlement is a welcome victory for Everett families who simply want the freedom to choose Bible education for their children during school hours. We are pleased that LifeWise will receive the same access and respect given to other optional programs. We look forward to continuing to provide children in the Everett community with Bible-based character education.”
“Religious discrimination has no place in public schools,” said Stephanie Taub, Senior Counsel at First Liberty Institute. “We are grateful to have reached this settlement on behalf of LifeWise. This is a tremendous victory not only for our clients but for all religious release time programs.”
“Anti-religious sentiment by government officials—particularly when coupled with the adoption of facially discriminatory policies—has no place in a free society,” said Barbara Smith Tyson, partner at the law firm Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner, LLP. “Students in Everett, Washington, like all Americans, enjoy the right to receive religious instruction without fear or favor.”
LifeWise Academy is a nonprofit that provides voluntary Bible education to public school students during school hours under released time religious instruction laws. Despite strong parental support, the Everett School District singled-out LifeWise for onerous regulation and hostile remarks. Specifically, the school 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 program requires similar burdensome regulations.
School board member Charles Adkins previously accused LifeWise of engaging in an “effort to turn our nation into a fascist theocracy,” and publicly declared at a board meeting, “I want to make it very, extremely, abundantly clear, that yes, I do in fact hold animus toward LifeWise Academy.”
An apology will be posted on the District’s website, which reads in part: “The District recognizes that comments made at various Board meetings that concerned LifeWise, including by Directors, were offensive and hurtful to the families participating in LifeWise programming. For that, the District and its Board of Directors offer a sincere apology. We recognize that these statements negatively affected the exercise of your faith. The District values the rights of all families to raise their children according to their own religious beliefs. We further apologize to any students or families that were made to feel by these comments that your religious beliefs are unworthy of respect.”
The United States District Court for the Western District of Washington granted a preliminary injunction against the school district in April 2026. This settlement ends the religious discrimination lawsuit between the parties.
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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 Natalie Konstans at media@firstliberty.org or by calling 972-941-4453.
