California students given Qurans, encouraged to wear hijabs on mosque field trip—parents sue school district

A California high school is facing legal pushback from parents for allowing a field trip to a mosque that included students being handed Qurans and encouraged to wear hijabs.

A group of parents and some former students have sued Palo Alto High School after a fall 2025 trip organized through the school’s Social Justice Pathway program. The parents alleged the trip presented Islam as aligned with social justice work and that photographs were taken and posted online without parental consent.

The group is represented by Community Members for Religious Neutrality in Public. The lawsuit names the Palo Alto High School Principal and the school district as defendants. The District’s superintendent, Jason Glass, said in a statement to the San Francisco Chronicle that the district learned about the lawsuit through media reports and had not yet been formally served. He said he had reviewed the complaint but that the district could not independently verify its allegations.

The parents are seeking an admission from the district that it failed to properly supervise students and violated the privacy rights of both students and parents. They also allege the students were “exposed” to Zahra Billoo, the executive director of the Bay Area’s office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. 

Billoo has previously drawn attention for past comments, including condemning Zionists. Billoo rejected the lawsuit, saying the legal action was “misguided” and that students’ participation was voluntary.

“Public schools and the government have an obligation to remain neutral toward religion, but what neutrality does not mean is shielding students entirely,” Billoo said. “The job of educators is to teach students, and expose them to different worldviews. That’s what happened here.” 

“One of the most important ways we combat hate is to learn about each other,” Billoo added. “I am concerned that this group of parents not only wants to counteract that for their own children… but is attempting to intimidate schools and school districts from doing necessary work of educating the next generation.”