In the lawsuit, LifeWise says that Parrish “posed as a LifeWise volunteer to gain access to internal documents,” and that Parrish “used unauthorized means” to gain access to password-protected copyrighted material meant only for employees.
Per the lawsuit, Parrish then improperly uploaded the curriculum to his website, Parents Against Lifewise. When the organization asked Parrish to take it down, he refused, according to the suit.
The curriculum has since been taken down from the site.
Credit: NICK BLIZZARD/STAFF
Credit: NICK BLIZZARD/STAFF
In an interview with the Dayton Daily News, Parrish said he filled out an application to be a LifeWise volunteer and submitted a background check, in hopes of learning more about the organization.
Parrish said while the curriculum is password-protected, the password was given to him by LifeWise, and included in its training materials. The idea that Parrish hacked the company’s system “is a blatant lie,” he said.
“I don’t know the laws. If the courts decide this is infringement, that’s fine. I’ll abide by whatever the courts say. But my perspective and stance is that parents have the right to know,” he said.
As part of their copyright agreement, the organization can only show their curriculum “within a classroom setting with student learners,” per the lawsuit, and cannot make it available to the general public.
LifeWise is seeking damages up to a maximum of $150,000, plus attorneys’ fees.
Indiana recently passed a law requiring public schools to allow for released-time offsite religious education during the school day.
“They’re actively lobbying at the state house. They passed the law in Indiana already,” Parrish said. “I wanted to provide a support system and resources and information and shed some light and transparency on this organization as a whole, because they are very backdoor. They try to get into schools under the radar.”
LifeWise CEO Joel Penton issued a statement to the Dayton Daily News, focusing on the lawsuit.
“LifeWise filed a lawsuit against Zachary Parrish for intentional copyright infringement,” Penton said. “He improperly obtained our entire copyright protected curriculum, and he posted to his website without our permission. We asked him to remove the curriculum voluntarily, but he has refused to do so.”
“Posting the entire curriculum is not ‘fair use,’ and we are confident that the judge will agree. We are hoping to settle this dispute swiftly,” Penton said.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Supporters of LifeWise Academy say it’s an opportunity to provide Bible-based lessons for families who want it. Students who sign up generally attend a LifeWise class at a location near the school when they otherwise would be participating in an art, music, gym or similar class. Some critics say the program is religious indoctrination and should not be facilitated by public schools.
Of the 57 school districts in Montgomery, Miami, Greene, Warren, Clark and Butler counties, LifeWise Academy works with 12, including Clark-Shawnee, Northridge, Brookville, Tipp City, Piqua, Bethel Local, Vandalia and Springboro. Most of those districts say the program is offered to elementary school students.
Efforts are underway to bring the program to other districts, including Dayton and Centerville.
Rachel Evans, a Centerville mother, has started a petition — with signatures limited to residents of the Centerville School District — opposing the implementation of LifeWise in Centerville Schools. The petition currently has 125 signatures.
“One of my issues with LifeWise being during school hours is they want kids to talk about it. They want kids to come back to their classrooms and tell all their friends what they just learned. And unfortunately, what they’re learning is not respectful of other religions. And not even religions, but just other people’s beliefs,” she said.
Evans and her husband both graduated from Centerville schools in 2009. Evans, who is Jewish, remembers growing up being told by other children she was going to hell. It’s a feeling Evans wants to protect her own children from, now that she has little ones of her own.
“I remember feeling isolated every single Christmas, every single Easter, just because you have these customs that are different and you don’t celebrate holidays that are celebrated. And I know just that feeling of exclusion,” she said. “I already know that I think my children are going to feel that exclusion that I did growing up. And that’s only once or twice a year. Imagine it being every single week.”
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