Is a school trip to a mosque preaching or teaching? California school district gets hit with lawsuit.

PALO ALTO, Calif. (RNS) — Last fall, a group of students at Palo Alto High School took a field trip to a local mosque, meeting the mosque’s imam and a Muslim civil rights lawyer. The students observed Dhuhr prayers, listened to students recite passages from the Quran and were given Qurans as gifts, while female students also were encouraged to wear hijabs, according to a civil rights lawsuit filed by some parents and students.

The lawsuit , filed in federal court by Jewish, Hindu and Zoroastrian parents and students, claims Palo Alto Unified School District violated students’ First Amendment rights and state laws requiring religious neutrality by elevating one religion and disfavoring or stigmatizing “students and families who do not share the promoted religious perspective.” The lawsuit is raising questions about where the line is drawn between education about religion and religious indoctrination.

The fall 2025 trip was part of the high school’s Social Justice Pathway curriculum, a three-year track beginning in students’ sophomore year. A recruitment video highlights field trips to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the former immigration station on Angel Island, and…