Off-campus Bible program reps threaten legal action against Everett schools

Published 6:30 am Friday, November 28, 2025

EVERETT — Attorneys representing LifeWise Academy have threatened legal action against Everett Public Schools for what they say is “unfair treatment” of the Bible education program.

On Nov. 19, attorneys sent a letter to the district demanding it provide written assurance by Dec. 5 that it will change district policies. If the district does not meet the deadline, the attorneys will “advise LifeWise of all available legal remedies to protect its First Amendment rights,” the letter read.

LifeWise Academy is an optional Bible education program that pulls students out of school during lunch and recess for classes. The program operates in more than 1,000 schools nationwide. In January, local organizers launched an Everett chapter at Emerson Elementary School. It was the first LifeWise program in the Puget Sound region. Since April, Edmonds, Mukilteo and Northshore school districts have obtained school approval for starting LifeWise programs.

While Washington does not have laws regarding off-site religious instruction during school hours, it’s allowed under a 1956 U.S. Supreme Court ruling. Guidance from the state superintendent says teachers are allowed to dismiss students for off-site religious instruction as long as schools do not encourage or discourage participation. Everett Public Schools’ policy is in line with state guidance.

LifeWise is asking the district to retract guidelines published on its website regarding religious-related activities and instruction and amend three sections of its policy to “apply without regard to a student’s or organization’s viewpoint or the content of speech.” The sections cover the use of school resources, distributing religious material and conducting religious services or assemblies. The letter further asks the district to “cease censoring and violating the free speech and free exercise rights of religious community groups.”

The letter is signed by Barbara Smith Tyson with Seattle-based law firm Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner and Jeremiah Dys with First Liberty Institute, a nonprofit legal organization focused on cases involving religious freedom.

In a statement to The Daily Herald, Everett Public Schools spokesperson Harmony Weinberg confirmed the district received correspondence from a law firm. Weinberg declined to comment further as the letter is under review by the district’s legal counsel, she said.

In the letter, the attorneys said the district prohibited LifeWise from participating in the district’s annual community resource fair and from placing flyers in the school’s lobby. The district also requires students to keep materials they receive from LifeWise in a sealed envelope when they return to school. District policy prohibits students from distributing religious materials on behalf of groups or individuals who are not students.

The letter says these policies are unfair and that the First Amendment requires the district to give LifeWise the same access to public facilities as it does to secular organizations.

The letter also cites a “needlessly complicated” permission slip policy. The district requires parents and guardians to send a new note to teachers each week, allowing their student to attend LifeWise.

LifeWise directors and parents have asked to work with the district to change the policy, the letter said, but the district has declined. LifeWise requested a meeting with Everett Deputy Superintendent Peter Scott, and the district responded by offering dates months into the future, the letter said.

The Everett school board has not taken official action regarding LifeWise, but members have stated they do not support the program.

“We as a board do not support or endorse programs that provide off-campus religious instruction during the school day, and prefer that students stay at school,” school board President Traci Mitchell said at a Sept. 9 meeting. “Parents, though, do have the right to ask the district to release their child from school for religious or non-religious purposes.”

School board member Charles Adkins has been vocal about his opposition to the program. At a July 2 meeting, Adkins cited LifeWise’s connection to the Heritage Foundation. The Heritage Foundation created Project 2025, a policy guide outlining a right-wing blueprint for restructuring the federal government. In June, the Heritage Foundation awarded LifeWise with its Innovation Prize, which gives funding to conservative nonprofits, according to its website.

“As someone who attended one of the last remaining boarding schools still ran by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, I am all too familiar with the dark history that religious education has in this country, with its treatment of kids of color, of native kids, of LGBT kids,” Adkins said at the July 2 meeting. “I am all too familiar with the attempts in the past and present by the white Christian majority to snuff out the cultures, religion and language of Native kids and other kids of color. We cannot allow this religious brainwashing and bullying of non-Christian and LGBT kids to take place when we can do something to stop it.”

The attorneys said Adkins’ comments show the school board is unfairly and unconstitutionally targeting LifeWise.

“It is difficult to conclude that the Board’s targeting of LifeWise is motivated by anything other than animus,” the letter read.

The board’s next meeting is scheduled for Dec. 9, four days after LifeWise’s deadline.

“To remedy any offense, LifeWise requests swift action from the District so that it may avoid costly and protracted litigation,” the letter read.

Jenna Peterson: 425-339-3486; jenna.peterson@heraldnet.com; X: @jennarpetersonn.