Parents, staff and faith leaders urge Everett School Board to end weekly release-time pullouts for Lifewise Academy

Dozens of parents, volunteers, faith leaders and other community members used the public-comment period at the Everett Public Schools board of directors' May 27 meeting to oppose Lifewise Academy and similar release-time religious instruction (RTRI) programs that pull students off campus during the school day.

Speakers said the program removes groups of students—several commenters estimated “over 50” pupils—on Tuesdays and Wednesdays for about 40 minutes, that buses load and unload in front of school buildings, and that the absences interrupt recess, lunch and classroom instruction. "My child loves school and feels the same way. Unfortunately, the introduction this year of Lifewise Academy . . . parks in front of the school. On those days dozens of students wearing matching red shirts miss valuable social emotional development and physical activity during lunch and recess," said Katie Scott Mcminiman, who identified herself as a parent and former teacher.

Commenters described social and emotional harms they said result from the staggered pullouts. "My second grader burst into tears when he learned that the RTRI program would pull kids out of school. He feared knowing which of his classmates might not want to play with him anymore," said Jennifer McClellan, a PTA member and school volunteer. Dana Sanders, who said she is a queer parent at Emerson and a regular volunteer in the school garden, told the board she observed a child sitting alone at lunch because classmates who attend Lifewise consistently sat together in their red shirts.

Several speakers framed the issue as a district policy choice. "The 1952 Supreme Court case, Zorek versus Clausen, is not a mandate. It's an if-then statement," McClellan said, arguing that the ruling sets conditions if a district permits RTRI but does not require district permission. Multiple speakers named other districts that have prohibited or rescinded similar programs and said they were not aware of lawsuits following those prohibitions.

A pastor, Tim Meyer, urged the board to treat lunch and recess as part of the core educational day. "When kids are missing recess and lunch, they're not just missing food and a game. They're missing a critical piece of the education that is required to be an active participant in our society," Meyer said.

Several speakers raised operational and safety questions: background checks for off-campus instructors, the district's liability for off-campus time, the logistics of permission slips and bus loading, and whether the district had hold-harmless protections in place. Adriana Agustinelli, an online commenter with a first grader at Madison Elementary, said she had volunteered in schools and contrasted the district's background-check practices with third-party programs operating off campus.

Board members did not respond to individual public comments, as the district’s public-comment rules state. The board took no action on the matter during the May 27 meeting. Commenters asked the board to rescind permissions for release-time programs and to prioritize keeping the instructional day intact and neutral.

The public-comment portion of the meeting lasted the allotted time; no new district policy or vote on RTRI was recorded during the session.