Everett Public Schools settles religious discrimination lawsuit

Everett Public Schools in Washington state has reached a settlement with LifeWise Academy, a Christian organization that provides off-campus Bible instruction to students during designated release times. As part of the agreement, the school district will pay $275,000 in legal fees, issue a public apology, and undergo religious liberty training for its board of directors.

The lawsuit followed allegations that the district implemented discriminatory policies, including requiring elementary students to keep Bibles concealed in sealed envelopes and demanding that parents submit weekly permission slips for off-campus religious instruction rather than a single semester-long authorization. LifeWise Academy also alleged that the district excluded the organization from community resource fairs and restricted its ability to distribute informational materials.

In a statement, Superintendent Ian Saltzman and the board of directors acknowledged that their policies negatively affected participating students and families. The board expressed regret for previous comments made during meetings that were described as “offensive and hurtful to the families participating in LifeWise programming.”