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6h ago

Parents Sue Palo Alto School Over Mosque Field Trip

The lawsuit argues a school visit crossed from academic instruction into religious promotion and could prompt a review of district consent and privacy practices.

The lawsuit alleges that Palo Alto High School students took a field trip to a mosque, students were provided a Quran, girls were encouraged to wear hijabs, observed prayer and exposed to the idea that Islam was aligned with social justice work.
Collage of a mosque with an American flag, a woman in a purple hijab looking out a window, and a child's hand pointing at text in an open Quran.
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Overview

  • Parents and former students have filed a federal suit alleging that Palo Alto High School’s Social Justice Pathway trip to a local mosque last fall gave students Qurans, encouraged some girls to wear hijabs, and presented Islam as aligned with social justice work.
  • The complaint names Palo Alto Unified School District and Paly Principal Brent Kline and seeks monetary damages plus admissions that the district was negligent in supervision and violated student privacy and parents’ due process rights.
  • Plaintiffs say photographs of students taken during the visit were posted online without proper parental consent and ask the court to order removal of images and bar similar school-sponsored activities.
  • PAUSD Superintendent Jason Glass said the district learned of the suit through news reports, has not been served with court papers, cannot yet verify the allegations, and is reviewing its practices under policies that require academic, not devotional, treatment of religion.
  • The lawsuit highlights a wider legal fault line over how public schools teach about religion; CAIR Bay Area’s director named in the complaint disputes the claims and says participation on the trip was voluntary and educational.