A federal commission convened at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C., heard Monday from students and parents who said children across the country have been harassed, disciplined or sidelined in school settings because of their religious beliefs.
Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, chairman of the Religious Liberty Commission, told the panel the incidents are not isolated and urged changes in school policies, administrative training and public education about First Amendment protections. President Donald Trump addressed the commission at the event and said the government should take steps to safeguard religious expression in schools.
Commission members and witnesses described multiple incidents in which students say school staff or administrators either punished them, pressured peers to turn against them, or edited religious references from school activities. The accounts, which Patrick and others recounted during the hearing, included a fifth grader who said school officials criticized her for wearing a mask declaring unconditional love; another fifth grader who objected on religious grounds to reading a book about sexual ideology to a younger child; a high school senior who was told to remove references to Jesus and some mentions of God from a valedictorian speech; and Jewish students in Massachusetts who reported sustained bullying that included obscene slurs.
Speakers at the hearing said that in some cases adults in leadership roles — including school employees — were involved in pressuring students or dismissing reports of harassment. Patrick said part of the problem was misinformation about the scope of students’ legal rights, and he urged broader public education about the First Amendment.
The Department of Education, officials said at the hearing, has pledged to issue clarifying guidance on prayer in schools. The Trump administration has also issued guidance aimed at protecting religious expression across the federal workforce, a development cited by commission members as part of a broader push to expand protections for religious speech and practice.
Commission recommendations discussed at the meeting included revising school policies to explicitly protect religious expression, implementing training for administrators and teachers on students’ religious rights, and reviewing curricula to ensure age-appropriate treatment of topics that intersect with religious beliefs. Patrick and other speakers also said schools should inform parents about significant matters involving a student’s gender identity and that administrators who facilitate gender transitions without parental notification should face legal accountability; those proposals were presented by commission members and witnesses during the session.
Several witnesses and advocates said that, despite legal protections, students and families often do not realize what rights they possess or how to enforce them. "If I had stayed silent, nothing would’ve changed," one student, identified in testimony as Lydia Booth, said of her decision to speak out after the mask incident. Commission members used such testimony to underscore their argument that clearer rules and better training are needed.
The hearing included testimony from families representing diverse regions and faiths, and Patrick said the panel will continue its inquiries at a follow-up hearing scheduled for Sept. 29. The commission plans to collect additional testimony and to press for administrative actions and guidance that its members argue would reduce disputes over religion in public schools.
Education officials, school districts and civil liberties groups were not present at the hearing to respond in a formal capacity, though the Department of Education’s pledge to issue guidance indicates federal action is under consideration. Legal experts note that free speech and free exercise claims in public schools can be complex, involving competing rights and established court precedents that shape what actions school officials may lawfully take.
The commission’s next session, its members said, will further examine the interplay between school policies, parental rights and student religious expression, with the stated goal of producing clearer guidance for school administrators and families.
