Marine Veteran Sues Oregon School District Over Christian Curriculum Reimbursement Denial

A Marine veteran and mother of five is suing the Hillsboro School District in Oregon, alleging that the district denied reimbursement for her Christian homeschool curriculum based on its religious worldview. Tessa Bulzan joined the district's homeschool partnership program in July 2025, after leaving a six-figure job to homeschool her children following a school incident that conflicted with her beliefs.

Bulzan stated that the district initially approved her chosen curriculum, which included materials from Abeka and Classical Conversations, as academically sound. However, in January 2026, her request for reimbursement was denied. According to Bulzan, an administrator cited the curriculum's references to God and its biblical worldview as reasons for the denial, despite acknowledging that no comparable secular alternative existed at the same academic level for her daughter, who has dyslexia.

"One-hundred percent, it was discrimination," Bulzan told Fox News Digital. "When I first started the program, I was told that all of my curriculum not only met the standards of the school board and the state of Oregon, but it excelled and went past most of their standards for all of their core."

Bulzan also noted that the district appeared to permit reimbursement for materials with different religious or spiritual themes, such as books referencing water spirits, while rejecting her grammar book for referencing God. "So, math, arithmetic, writing, grammar, all of these books that I was using to satisfy their academic requirements were all being accepted and there was no argument, there was no denial of that," she said.

Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) attorneys filed suit against the Hillsboro School District in federal court in September 2026. ADF attorney Kate Anderson stated that the case represents religious discrimination, which she argues violates constitutional principles.

"Religious families need to be treated on equal footing with secular families and the same with their curriculum," Anderson said. "And so this violates the Constitution very clearly, and we're very hopeful that the court will step in quickly."

A spokesperson for the Hillsboro School District stated that the district cannot comment on pending litigation.