Jewish, Hindu, Zoroastrian parents sue California school district over mosque field trip

A group of 10 Jewish, Hindu, and Zoroastrian parents, organized as Community Members for Religious Neutrality in Public Schools, San Francisco Bay Area, filed a lawsuit on August 7 in the US District Court for the Northern District of California against the Palo Alto Unified School District and Palo Alto High Principal Brent Kline. The lawsuit (5:2026cv08249) alleges that during a fall 2025 field trip to the Muslim Community Association's mosque in Santa Clara, students were encouraged to wear Islamic religious attire, including hijabs, and received Qurans. The suit claims the district "failed to maintain religious neutrality" and allowed an activist, Zahra Billoo, to advocate personal religious and political views without supervision. The parents also allege that photos of students were taken and disseminated without parental consent. Billoo stated that "One of the most important ways we combat hate is to learn about each other," while PAUSD Superintendent Jason Glass affirmed the district's policy of academic, not devotional, religious instruction.