Suit was filed last week in a Washington federal district court challenging the restrictions that Everett, Washington school officials have placed on the operation of a parent-run program that offers elementary school students off-campus, non-denominational Christian instruction during lunch, recess and free periods. Plaintiffs contend that the school has violated their free speech and free exercise rights. The complaint (full text) in Inc. v. Everett Public School District, (WD WA, filed 12/19/2025), alleges in part:
First, the District evinced open hostility to LifeWise specifically (and religion generally) through District Board Directors’ numerous hateful public comments. Then, the District coupled that vocal animus with action, and imposed policies on LifeWise that hinder its operations and violate Plaintiffs’ constitutional rights in three ways:
a. First, Defendants have taken steps to prevent members of the school community from learning about the services LifeWise offers. They did this by banning LifeWise from participating in the District’s community fair, prohibiting LifeWise from displaying flyers in school lobbies next to flyers for other organizations, and (in one instance) rejecting LifeWise’s electronic flyers from the school’s distribution system because of their religious content. Each of these constitutes viewpoint discrimination in violation of the First Amendment.
b. Second, Defendants uniquely burden LifeWise, students who participate in LifeWise, and those students’ parents by requiring an onerous permission-slip policy to excuse them for off-campus religious instruction....
c. Third, when a student returns from off-campus religious instruction hosted by LifeWise, the District requires her to keep LifeWise educational religious materials sealed “in an envelope” in her “backpack,” so she cannot access them the rest of the school day....
First Liberty issued a press release announcing the filing of the lawsuit.
