Palo Alto school district sued over mosque field trip visit

Stephanie Lam, The Mercury News on Aug 19, 2026

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SAN JOSE, Calif. — A group of South Bay parents are suing the Palo Alto Unified School District over a field trip to a Santa Clara mosque last year, alleging the district promoted Islam and violated state education laws after students were encouraged to wear Muslim religious attire, gifted Qurans and taught that Islam promotes social justice.

But representatives of the Muslim Community Association, which owns the mosque, said they are “deeply concerned” about the group’s decision to challenge an “educational visit.”

“Treating students’ exposure to ordinary Muslim faith and practice as inherently coercive or threatening risks reinforcing the very Islamophobia and misunderstanding that educational engagement should help overcome,” said Mongi Dhaouadi, Communication and Outreach Director for MCA.

The lawsuit was filed on Aug. 8 in district court against PAUSD and Palo Alto principal Brent Kline.

PAUSD Superintendent Jason Glass said the district learned of the filing through news coverage, and have not been served as of Wednesday afternoon. Glass said he has read the complaint, but the district, “have not yet verified the allegations.”

The plaintiffs are Community Members for Religious Neutrality in Public Schools – San Francisco Bay Area, which describes itself as an organization of community members, “concerned with preserving religious neutrality in public education,” according to court documents.

The lawsuit centers around a field trip in the fall of 2025, when students in the Social Justice Pathway, a three-year program offered at Palo Alto High School to teach students about social justice practices, visited MCA’s mosque in north Santa Clara.

Students allegedly were encouraged to wear Muslim religious attire while visiting, and female students were given hijabs. They were also provided with Qurans and taught that Islam promotes social justice, according to the lawsuit.

The students allegedly observed a prayer, met participants in an MCA lead Quran-memorization program and were exposed to Zahra Billoo who is Executive Director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations Bay Area office. The lawsuit states Billoo is known for “publicly documented hostile and discriminatory statements regarding Jews and sharply ideological political view.”

The lawsuit lists several members of the Religious Neutrality group and their religious affiliations, including two Jewish parents and a student, one Hindu parent and one Zoroastrian parent, which is a religion that originated in Iran.

The group states that parents were not provided with “meaningful fully informed consent” about the trip and claimed students were photographed in religious attire inside the mosque which were later publicly shared.

By allowing the visit and activities, the group asserts the district failed to maintain religious neutrality, and ensure “equal treatment among faiths,” according to the lawsuit. They claim the district violated a California education code, which requires schools to avoid discrimination, bias and unequal educational access on the basis of religion in school programs and activities.

David Rosenberg-Whol, the attorney representing the group, says the lawsuit is not singling out one religion, but upholding an “American principle that has long established separation between the state and religion.”

“I’m not taking aim at anyone’s politics,” Rosenberg-Whol said. “But if a school puts a thumb on the scale for a particular faith, that’s a problem. That’s what is going on here.”

Glass says the PAUSD board policy requires that instruction about religion must be academic and not devotional.

“No faith may be promoted, and no faith may be denigrated. Every family in this district is entitled to expect that standard, and I will review our practice against it,” Glass said.

Dhaouadi said MCA visitors have the opportunity to learn about the Muslim faith, ask questions and observe traditions. Learning about a religion is not the same as being asked to practice it, Dhaouadi said.

“We take the safety, comfort, and well-being of every guest seriously and strive to provide a welcoming, respectful, and enriching educational environment,” Dhaouadi said. “Our doors remain open to our community, just as they always have.”

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