Two children sit at a classroom table sharing and reading a Bible. (FatCamera / Getty Images)
By Brooklynn Robinson October 19, 2026 at 7:06am
A Washington school district that required elementary students to keep Bibles and worksheets from an off-campus Bible program in sealed envelopes has agreed to apologize, send board members to religious liberty training, change its policies, and pay $275,000 in attorney’s fees.
LifeWise Academy, which offers privately funded Bible instruction to public school students during the school day with parental permission, sued the Everett School District after the board adopted rules the group called discriminatory.
Students who attended LifeWise classes were told that any Bible or worksheet they received had to return to school sealed in an envelope so that other students would not be “exposed to them,” LifeWise CEO Joel Penton told Fox News.
Parents also had to hand-deliver a fresh permission slip every week instead of signing one for the semester or year, and LifeWise was barred from some community fairs open to other groups.
https://t.co/gerkXyglKH
Washington state has turned into a woke joke!! I’m glad these cases happen to uncover and expose this nonsense !!
@chrisreykdal you are definitely part of the problem!
— Chris (@HelmerChris) October 16, 2026
Penton said parents told him their children felt they were being told to hide their faith “as though it was something to be ashamed of.”
He said the weekly permission rule made the program impractical for many families.
LifeWise had operated in Everett for several years before the changes. The organization tried to resolve the dispute with the district before filing suit.
In April, a federal judge granted a preliminary injunction, finding the district had engaged in viewpoint discrimination.
https://t.co/Alv7q60DNz. Can’t believe this school district thought these policies were ok especially after the plethora of cases won on behalf of others treated like this elsewhere. The punishments are perfect.
— Jules V (@TimelessJewell) October 16, 2026
Wokeness in full swing is held accountable!!!!
https://t.co/g0K8fpj8dQ— Mor Allon (@allonster) October 16, 2026
Same Everett School district had porn equivalent sex books in their libraries! War on Christianity from the left continues! https://t.co/1QgxEz5Xu0
— @4North49 (@UR4North49) October 16, 2026
The board approved a settlement this week that ends the case, Just the News reported. It requires religious liberty training for board members, policy changes on religious activities, a public written apology posted on the district website for six months, and $275,000 in fees.
Washington school district forces students to hide Bibles ‘sealed in an envelope’ in backpacks, federal lawsuit alleges
https://t.co/83CYN1JxzR
— Defiant L’s (@DefiantLs) January 20, 2026
The apology acknowledges that comments at board meetings “were offensive and hurtful to the families participating in LifeWise programming.”
One board member had said “I do in fact hold animus” against the group of “homophobic bullies” seeking “an authoritarian theocracy.”
Do you think school policies should respect religious freedoms for students?
The statement adds that the district values the right of families to raise their children according to their own beliefs and apologizes to anyone made to feel their religious beliefs were unworthy of respect.
The district said in a statement on its website that its student-release guidelines were updated to comply with the settlement and that it respects the preliminary injunction.
Stephanie Taub, senior counsel at First Liberty, said religious discrimination has no place in public schools and called the result a victory for release-time programs.
HIDE THEIR FAITH? A Christian education CEO says elementary school students felt ashamed after being told to keep their Bibles in SEALED ENVELOPES when returning to school.
Now, the WA district has agreed to a public apology, religious liberty training & $275k in attorney’s fees https://t.co/YuyTXNDjVw
— Rachel del Guidice (@LRacheldG) October 16, 2026
Penton said the settlement is a welcome victory for Everett families who want the same access and respect given to other optional programs.
Off-campus religious instruction during the school day has been permitted under a 1952 Supreme Court ruling, as long as it is privately funded and requires parental consent.
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