California Families Sue School District Over Mosque Field Trip
Parents allege students were given Qurans, encouraged to wear hijabs, and photographed during a school-sponsored visit to a mosque.
NEWS
Glorious Grace
8/23/20262 min read
Ten plaintiffs and a group called Community Members for Religious Neutrality in Public Schools have filed a federal lawsuit against the Palo Alto Unified School District and Palo Alto High School Principal Brent Kline over a fall 2025 field trip to the Muslim Community Association mosque in Santa Clara, California.
According to the Palo Alto Daily Post, the students participated in Palo Alto High School's Social Justice Pathway program and visited the Muslim Community Association mosque. The complaint alleges that students were given copies of the Quran to take home, female students were encouraged to wear hijabs, and students observed Muslim prayer during the visit.
The lawsuit also alleges that students were taught that Islam was particularly aligned with social justice and that photographs of students were posted online without proper parental consent.
The plaintiffs argue that the school district crossed the line between teaching students about religion and exposing them to religious practices or promoting a particular faith.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the plaintiffs include Jewish parents and former students, as well as a Hindu parent and a Zoroastrian. They are seeking monetary damages and an admission from the district concerning alleged negligence, privacy violations, and violations of parental due-process rights.
The lawsuit also raises concerns about Zahra Billoo, executive director of the Bay Area office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), who was involved with the program. The plaintiffs allege that students were exposed to Billoo's views without sufficient balance.
Billoo disputed that characterization in comments to the San Francisco Chronicle. She said that the purpose of the visit was to expose students to different worldviews and that participation in religious activities was voluntary. Billoo called the lawsuit misguided and said learning about different religions can help combat hatred.
Palo Alto Unified Superintendent Jason Glass said the district learned about the lawsuit through news coverage and had not yet been formally served with the complaint. He said the district could not yet verify the allegations but reaffirmed that district policy requires teaching about religion to remain academic rather than devotional. He also said no faith should be promoted or denigrated.
The federal lawsuit was filed on Aug. 8.
The case raises an important question for parents: Where is the line between teaching children about religion and encouraging them to participate in religious practices?
Public schools can teach students about religion in an academic setting. The dispute in Palo Alto centers on whether the activities alleged in the lawsuit remained within that educational boundary.
For Christian parents, the case is also a reminder to pay attention to what children encounter through school-sponsored activities, including field trips. Parents have a legitimate interest in knowing what their children are being taught and what activities they are being asked to participate in.
The allegations in the lawsuit have not been proven in court. As the case moves forward, evidence from the school, parents, and students will help determine what occurred during the mosque visit and whether the district violated students' or parents' rights.