Palo Alto school district sued over mosque field trip, parents allege religious neutrality violated
Palo Alto Unified School District is facing a federal civil rights lawsuit over a school mosque visit that parents say crossed the line from education into religious promotion.
The complaint, filed Aug. 8 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, names the district and Palo Alto High School Principal Brent Kline as defendants. The plaintiffs are part of a group called Community Members for Religious Neutrality in Public Schools – San Francisco Bay Area, which includes Jewish parents and students, a Hindu parent and a Zoroastrian parent.
The lawsuit centers on a field trip organized through Palo Alto High School’s Social Justice Pathway. During the visit to a mosque in Santa Clara County, students were given copies of the Quran, female students were reportedly encouraged to wear hijabs, and the group observed prayers during a Quran memorization session, according to the complaint.
The plaintiffs also allege that students were exposed to Zahra Billoo, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations’ San Francisco Bay Area chapter, whom they describe as a controversial speaker for the Jewish community. The complaint says photographs of students in religious attire were taken without parental permission and later posted publicly by the host organization.
The Muslim Community Association, which hosted the trip, described it as an “unforgettable visit” for nearly 100 students and said the goal was to foster “conversation that builds bridges of understanding and mutual respect.” As of Aug. 17, the group’s website still displayed photos of the students, which the parents want removed.
Superintendent Jason Glass said the district had not yet been served with court papers, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. Glass said district policy requires religion to be taught from an academic standpoint, not a devotional one, and that no faith may be promoted or denigrated.
Billoo, who called the lawsuit “misguided” in an interview with the Chronicle, said students encountered her firsthand as an American Muslim woman working in civil rights and social justice, and that any “exposure” to her during the trip was part of that experience. She has been an outspoken critic of Israeli government policies and has drawn criticism in the past over social media posts and statements about Israel.
The lawsuit argues that the district “failed to maintain religious neutrality, failed to ensure equal treatment among faiths, failed to protect student privacy, and failed to vet, supervise and monitor religiously divisive outside speakers during the school-sponsored event.” It seeks monetary damages and a court declaration that the district violated California law, student privacy rights and parental rights.
The case highlights a familiar tension in public education. Schools may teach about religion, including by visiting houses of worship, when the material is presented objectively and tied to a secular curriculum. But courts have also made clear that schools may not sponsor or appear to endorse a particular faith. The gifts of sacred texts, the encouragement to wear religious garments, and the lack of parental consent for photos could all be central to determining whether this trip crossed that line.
The outcome could have broader implications for school districts across California. Field trips to religious sites are not unusual, but this lawsuit underscores the need for clear policies on speaker vetting, parental permission, and the handling of religious items during school events — even when the goal is interfaith understanding.