October 21, 2026
EVERETT, Wash. (BP) – LifeWise Academy has secured the right to operate its off-site Bible-based character development program in Everett, Wash., and garnered a public apology for being falsely accused of favoring white supremacy and a “fascist theocracy.”
The victory is the result of a settlement agreement in a lawsuit a parent filed against the Everett School District after the school board not only refused to allow LifeWise, but also publicly accused LifeWise of ulterior motives, First Liberty Institute said Oct. 14 in announcing the settlement.
In the settlement, the school district’s board of directors must undergo religious liberty training, amend district policies governing religious activities, make its written apology viewable on the district’s website for six months, and pay $275,000 in attorney fees. The district’s apology is viewable here, along with other details of the settlement.
LifeWise CEO Joel Penton welcomed the settlement.
“Parents and students deserve to be treated with respect, regardless of their religious beliefs. We appreciate the district’s commitment to equal treatment and its agreement to issue a public apology,” Penton said in a First Liberty press release. “We look forward to moving ahead and continuing to serve the Everett community with Bible-based character education during school hours.”
LifeWise had met all legal requirements in offering the program as an option to Emerson Elementary School students, as allowed under the 1952 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Zorach v. Clauson, but the school board still resisted. As designed, LifeWise operates off school property, is privately funded, and requires parental approval for student participation.
“The District recognizes that the implementation of its policies created difficulties for LifeWise students and their families, particularly with respect to the procedures for releasing students for religious instruction and the handling of materials students received through LifeWise,” the board said in its apology. “The District apologizes for the frustration and difficulty its actions caused those students and families. The District values all of its students and families and is committed to ensuring that its policies and practices are administered consistently, neutrally, and in accordance with applicable law, including with respect to religious activities and student participation.”
The board must reverse restrictions deemed discriminatory toward LifeWise, which included excluding LifeWise from community events and flyer displays, requiring weekly parental reauthorization, and requiring students to seal in envelopes in their backpacks materials LifeWise distributed, including Bibles.
School board director Charles Adkins made offensive remarks against LifeWise, First Liberty said.
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,” First Liberty accused Adkins of saying. “Mr. Adkins’s histrionics continued with the malicious accusation that LifeWise is engaged in an ‘effort to turn our nation into a fascist theocracy.’”
In the settlement, the school board apologized for Adkins’ remarks.
“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,” the board said. “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.”
LifeWise will proceed in establishing the program for Emerson Elementary students, First Liberty said in its release.
Penton thanked the families who continue to support LifeWise Academy’s Everett program, including the 55 families in Everett who had registered.
“We are grateful to the Everett parents who courageously stood up for their children and defended their rights throughout the legal process,” Penton said. “Our focus remains on providing Bible education to families who want it and helping students develop character that serves them throughout their lives.”
Penton promotes LifeWise Academy as beneficial to students and their families, citing a comprehensive, multi-year study by the independent research firm TPMA. LifeWise Academy may lead to improved outcomes for students, the study found, pointing out that in schools where LifeWise is offered, over 30 percent more students perform at or above grade level, absenteeism is nearly 50 percent lower, and suspension rates are 30 percent lower.
“We would like educators and parents to see the impact that this is having,” Penton told Baptist Press. “It’s understandable that educators, when we come to them and say, hey, we’d love to have a program that students can opt in to receive Bible study during school hours, understandably, they have a lot of questions.
“How is this going to impact the school? Are kids going to be distracted? What’s going to happen? And to be able to show them, well, actually, more kids will show up for school, their behavior will improve, and their academics will improve,” Penton said. “That’s very helpful for them to know the impact.”
LifeWise Academy has served 110,000 students since launching the program in Ohio in 2019, Penton said.
“At the end of this previous school year we were serving just over a thousand schools in 34 states,” he said. “We are confirmed for this school year to serve just over 1,500 schools across 40 states.”
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This article appeared in Baptist Press. Steps to establishing a LifeWise Academy program in your school are available here.
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