California school district sued over field trip to mosque where students allegedly donned Muslim garb

A group of multi-faith parents has filed a joint lawsuit against Palo Alto Unified School District in California and Palo Alto High School's principal Brent Kline over a field trip to a local mosque last year.

According to the August 7 lawsuit , as part of the school's Social Justice Pathway curriculum, students took a tour of a mosque hosted by the Muslim Community Association and took part in several religious activities and were allegedly encouraged to don religious garb without parental consent.

"During the Fall 2025 mosque visit, students who were minors allegedly were provided with Muslim religious attire and encouraged to wear it while on site," the complaint read.

"During that visit, students allegedly were provided with Qurans and taught that Islam, in particular, promotes social justice." TEXAS TEEN TELLS CONGRESS HE RECEIVED DEATH THREATS AFTER REVEALING ISLAMIC BOOTH AT HIGH SCHOOL "The field-trip activities allegedly included observation of a Dhuhr prayer, discussion of the meaning of worship, and engagement with participants in the Noor Hifz Academy, the host institution’s religious youth program in which Islamic students memorize the Quran," the complaint continued.

"Female students were provided hijabs to wear and that all students were gifted Qurans to take home for personal use." The lawsuit, which was filed by a group of Jewish, Hindu and Zoroastrian parents, also claimed that students spoke to Zahra Billoo, the executive director of the Bay Area office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, who has come under controversy for making allegedly antisemitic statements in the past.

In a comment to Fox News Digital , David Rosenberg-Wohl, who is representing the parents, said that the issue at hand is a public school like Palo Alto High School specifically promoting Islam in its Social Justice Pathway curriculum.

"In effect, kids are being told that if they are progressive and interested in social justice, Islam is the faith for them.

That is not the business of a public school.

It's not an issue of religion v. religion.

It's an American one.

The separation of church and state is a bedrock issue here," Rosenberg-Wohl said.

FORT WORTH PRINCIPAL PICK FACES BACKLASH, INVESTIGATION OVER SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS DEFENDING SHARIA LAW The Muslim Community Association stood by its original statement , saying that the organization was "deeply concerned" over the lawsuit.

"Treating students' exposure to ordinary Muslim faith and practice as inherently coercive or threatening risks reinforcing the very Islamophobia and misunderstanding that that educational engagement should help overcome," the group told Fox News Digital.