TEXAS — Eighteen families in Texas have joined with the ACLU to sue a local school district to stop the mandatory display of the Ten Commandments in classrooms.
The San Antonio suburb of Schertz, Texas, is home to the Schertz-Cibolo-Universal City School District. The families suing come from 16 different school districts and various religious backgrounds, which is important to the case, according to the ACLU.
“The new Ashby v. Schertz-Cibolo-Universal ISD case is necessary because — even with two federal court injunctions preventing more than two dozen Texas school districts from displaying the Ten Commandments — public school districts continue to violate the constitutional rights of students and their families,” an article on the ACLU website said.
The ACLU has detailed the families who are pursuing the suit. According to the organization, the suit is the most effective way to protect religious freedom for families in Texas.
“As Unitarian Universalists, our faith is led by equity, compassion, and acceptance of all people. The Ten Commandments posters required by S.B. 10 impose a specific religious doctrine on my children, which directly violates our family’s faith,” said Caitlyn Besser, mother of students who attend Hurst-Euless-Bedford ISD.
The ACLU legal team said that public schools should not be allowed to endorse any religious beliefs.
“This case is critical to reaffirm a bedrock constitutional principle: Public schools cannot be used to advance or endorse any faith. Families — not the government — must have the freedom to decide how and when their children engage with religion,” Jon Youngwood, the global co-chair of the Litigation Department at Simpson Thacher, said.
The state of Texas has been involved with multiple lawsuits involving the display of the Ten Commandments ever since the law was signed in May 2025. There are likely to be more lawsuits in the future.