School district pays $275,000, changes policies to settle Bible study discrimination lawsuit

A Washington state school district agreed to change several policies, post a public apology for six months and pay $275,000 to cover a student ministry’s legal fees to settle litigation alleging discrimination against an off-site Bible study program for students, the ministry’s lawyers said.The settlement follows a preliminary injunction against Everett Public Schools this spring for committing “viewpoint discrimination” against LifeWise. It requires the district to treat the ministry the same as secular groups in advertising its program and stop raising roadblocks for students to participate in off-site Bible study during so-called release time.
First Liberty Institute, representing LifeWise with co-counsel Bryan Cave, said the district board approved the settlement. 
It requires the board to undergo “religious liberty training” and change policies on “religious activities” in addition to the public apology and attorney’s fees, according to First Liberty, which didn’t immediately provide the settlement when asked.
The apology, which First Liberty reprinted in full, references hostile comments made by board members against LifeWise, including one who said “I do in fact hold animus” against the group of “homophobic bullies” seeking “an authoritarian theocracy.”
“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,” it reads. “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 statement says the district “values the rights of all families to raise their children according to their own religious beliefs” and apologizes to “any students or families that were made to feel by these comments that your religious beliefs are unworthy of respect.”
The Everett Herald confirmed the board approved the settlement Tuesday, which preempts a trial scheduled for next year. The district posted a lengthy statement that includes the public apology, signed by Superintendent Ian Saltzman and board members.
The district emphasized it didn’t lose the case but it “respects” the preliminary injunction, which “provides important guidance” for how Everett Public Schools applies policies to LifeWise and participating students and families.
Its policy implementation “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,” and the district “apologizes for the frustration and difficulty its actions caused those students and families.”
The district commits 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 rest of the statement on the litigation includes detailed guidelines on student release.
LifeWise CEO Joel Penton called the settlement “a welcome victory for Everett families who simply want the freedom to choose Bible education for their children during school hours” and receive “the same access and respect given to other optional programs.”
“Anti-religious sentiment by government officials—particularly when coupled with the adoption of facially discriminatory policies—has no place in a free society,” Bryan Cave partner Barbara Smith Tyson said.

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