School District Apologizes and Pays $275,000 After Requiring Students to Hide Bibles in Sealed Envelopes

A school district in Washington state has agreed to publicly apologize, undergo religious liberty training, and pay $275,000 after scrapping a policy requiring students to hide Christian literature in sealed envelopes. Everett Public Schools was sued by Christian education group LifeWise Academy after the organization alleged that pupils were required to conceal Bibles and religious literature given to them during Bible lessons. LifeWise CEO and founder Joel Penton told Fox News that the situation had taken an emotional toll on parents, who were required to provide permission slips for their children to attend voluntary off-campus Bible study. “I also heard from parents that their children felt like they were being told they had to hide their faith when they were told they had to put their Bibles and things in envelopes as though it was something to be ashamed of, and I know that was very hurtful as well,” he said. “Then the school board changed some of their policies in some ways that were pretty transparently discriminatory and infringed on the religious liberty of our program there. Some of those policy changes included requiring parents, instead of simply signing a permission slip one time for the entire semester, the entire year, they were requiring them to hand-bring in a permission slip each and every week, which was quite onerous.”

The lawsuit has now been settled, with Everett Public Schools having to change their policies and have school board members undergo religious liberty training. The school district will also publish a public apology on its website for six months. The settlement quoted a statement from the school district, saying, “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. For that, the District and its Board of Directors offer a sincere apology.” The case highlights the ongoing tension between public schools and religious liberty, particularly regarding off-campus Bible study programs and the rights of students to freely express their faith. In September, the White House published a list of 250 reasons why President Donald Trump was the most “pro-faith” U.S. president, presenting policies of the second Trump term including greater support for faith-based organizations in schools and religious foster parents. The settlement serves as a reminder that religious freedom is a fundamental right that must be protected, even in public educational settings.