A lawsuit has been filed against the Palo Alto Unified School District and Palo Alto High School by parents who allege students were improperly exposed to religious practices and viewpoints during a field trip to a mosque last fall. The plaintiffs, represented by a group called Community Members for Religious Neutrality in Public Schools, include parents of Jewish, Hindu, and Zoroastrian students, as well as former students.
The trip was part of the school's Social Justice Pathway program. According to the lawsuit, students were given Qurans, and female students were encouraged to wear hijabs, which the suit describes as an Islamic face covering viewed by some as oppressive. The suit also claims students were exposed to Zahra Billoo, executive director of the Bay Area's office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, and that photos of students were posted online without parental consent.
PAUSD Superintendent Jason Glass stated that the district learned of the lawsuit through news reports and had not yet been served. He added that while the district is reviewing its practices, any religious teachings in schools must be academic, not devotional. Glass noted that the district could not verify the allegations at this time.
Billoo, named in the lawsuit, defended the trip, calling the lawsuit "misguided." She argued that public schools must remain neutral but that neutrality does not equate to shielding students from different worldviews. "The job of educators is to teach students, and expose them to different worldviews," Billoo told the San Francisco Chronicle. She asserted that students' participation was voluntary and that learning about different practices combats hate.
The parents are seeking an admission of negligence from the school district for its supervision of students, as well as a declaration that the district violated students' privacy rights and parents' due process rights. The lawsuit also references controversial statements made by Billoo regarding Zionists.