According to court documents, a federal judge in San Antonio ruled that Senate Bill 10 (SB 10) likely violates a clause of the First Amendment and temporarily ordered 14 Texas Independent School Districts (ISDs) not to display the Ten Commandments in their classrooms.
Judge Orlando Garcia from the U.S. Court of the Western District of Texas ruled on Tuesday that SB 10 possibly violates the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause, which separates church and state.
The school districts affected by the injunction are the following:
Comal ISD
Georgetown ISD
Conroe ISD
Flour Bluff ISD
Fort Worth ISD
Arlington ISD
Mckinney ISD
Frisco ISD
Northwest ISD
Azle ISD
Rockwall ISD
Lovejoy ISD
Mansfield ISD
McAllen ISD
These ISDs have until Dec. 1 to remove any existing Ten Commandments displays from their classroom walls.
They are also required to submit paperwork to the court by Dec. 9, confirming that they have removed all displays in their schools and that they are fully complying with the judge’s order.
Attorney General Ken Paxton stated in August that all Texas ISDs not affected by ongoing litigation should continue displaying copies of the Christian-faith-based laws in their learning environments.
Paxton has already filed lawsuits against multiple school districts, including Galveston ISD, Round Rock ISD and Leander ISD, for alleged refusal to comply with the Ten Commandments rules.
READ MORE: Texas AG Paxton sues Austin-area school districts for refusing to display Ten Commandments
Governor Greg Abbott signed SB 10 into law in June.
SB 10 requires all Texas public schools to display the Ten Commandments in every classroom. It requires that the displays be large enough (at least 16×20 inches) that students can read them from anywhere in the classroom. The law went into effect on Sept. 1, 2025.
The temporary order stopping the 14 school districts from displaying the Ten Commandments in their schools stems from a lawsuit filed on Sept. 22 by 16 parent plaintiffs who are suing on behalf of themselves and their children.
The parent plaintiffs all come from different religious and non-religious backgrounds, including Atheist, Agnostic, Christian, Jewish, Baha’i, Hindu, and Humanist.
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