A coalition of parents, former students and community members has sued California’s Palo Alto Unified School District over a 2025 high school field trip to a mosque, alleging that the school crossed the constitutional line between teaching students about religion and facilitating religious activity.
The complaint, filed Aug. 7, centers on a trip by students in Palo Alto High School’s Social Justice Pathway, a three-year academic program for sophomores through seniors.
According to the lawsuit, the program has organized multiple visits to the Muslim Community Association in nearby Santa Clara. The plaintiffs allege the mosque is the only house of worship included in the program’s field trips.
What happened during the visit is at the heart of the dispute.
“Students allegedly were encouraged to wear Islamic religious attire, were given Qurans, observed prayer, engaged with participants in a Quran-memorization program, and were exposed to messaging that portrayed Islam as uniquely aligned with social justice work,” the complaint states.
The plaintiffs further allege that female students were provided hijabs and that students received copies of the Quran to take home.
Those allegations are important because a public school may teach students about religions in an academic context. The plaintiffs contend that this particular trip went further by placing students in circumstances that conveyed government endorsement of one faith.
The lawsuit also takes issue with students’ exposure to Zahra Billoo, whom the complaint describes as a controversial speaker with documented statements about Jews and strong political views. The plaintiffs allege Billoo was permitted to advocate her religious and political positions without sufficient supervision or a balancing perspective.
Student privacy is another major component of the case.
According to the complaint, students were photographed inside the mosque while wearing religious attire, and identifiable photographs were subsequently distributed publicly for promotional or community purposes.
The plaintiffs say parents had not provided meaningful, fully informed consent covering those activities, including the wearing of religious clothing, photography inside a religious institution and subsequent public use of the images. They also allege families were not offered a meaningful opportunity to opt out.
But the lawsuit goes beyond parental permission.
Even if parents had consented, the plaintiffs argue, that would not resolve the underlying constitutional question of whether a public school improperly elevated Islam above other religions.
“In the school context, where attendance and participation carry coercive pressures for minors, Defendants’ conduct conveyed governmental endorsement of religion,” the complaint alleges, “and impermissibly coerced students to participate in or appear to participate in religious exercise.”
The plaintiffs include Jewish parents of Palo Alto High School students, a Jewish parent whose child is expected to attend the school, former Jewish students, Jewish community members, a Hindu parent and a Zoroastrian resident. An organization called Community Members for Religious Neutrality in Public Schools – San Francisco Bay Area also joined the action.
Several Jewish plaintiffs are proceeding anonymously because, according to the complaint, they fear personal harm if publicly identified.
The lawsuit seeks to address more than one field trip. Plaintiffs contend that visits to the mosque have occurred before and could happen again.
“This event has happened in the past and on information and belief will happen again in the future,” the complaint states.
