In LifeWise, Inc. v. Everett Public School District, (WD WA, April 24, 2026), LifeWise, an organization that provides off-premise released-time religious instruction to public school students, was granted a preliminary injunction requiring the Everett, Washington School District to grant it treatment equal to that given to secular organizations. The injunction issued by a Washington federal district court requires the district to allow LifeWise to participate in district community resource fairs and display printed flyers in schools to the same extent as permitted for secular organizations. The court also ordered the school to simplify the permission slip procedure for students attending the released time program. Finally, because some parents complained that those attending the released time program were pressuring other students to attend by providing them with materials received during their released time, the school had required students to keep sealed in their backpacks material received during their released-time instruction. A parent who was one of the plaintiffs contended that this prevented her child from being able to read the Bible during free time. The court agreed and ordered that this plaintiff's children be permitted to read LifeWise reading materials during times of the school day when students are allowed to read other non-scholastic materials.
