{"id":8782,"date":"2025-10-17T18:37:29","date_gmt":"2025-10-17T18:37:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/8782\/"},"modified":"2025-10-17T18:37:29","modified_gmt":"2025-10-17T18:37:29","slug":"tarrant-county-schools-sued-over-texas-ten-commandments-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/8782\/","title":{"rendered":"Tarrant County schools sued over Texas Ten Commandments law"},"content":{"rendered":"

More than a dozen multifaith families, including one from Fort Worth, filed a lawsuit against five Tarrant County-area school districts and others across Texas to stop them from displaying the Ten Commandments in classrooms as required under a state law.<\/p>\n

The group of 15 families filed the suit Monday in a San Antonio court against 14 districts, including Fort Worth, Arlington, Northwest, Mansfield and Azle saying the law is a violation of religious freedom and the separation of church and state.<\/p>\n

This is the latest legal challenge to the new state law that went into effect Sept. 1.<\/p>\n

Kristin Klade, a Lutheran pastor in Fort Worth, is among those who filed this week\u2019s lawsuit. She said in a statement that displaying the Ten Commandments in her children\u2019s classrooms steps on her parental right to teach religion to her family.<\/p>\n

\u201cI address questions about God and faith with great care, and I emphatically reject the notion that the state would do this for me,\u201d Klade said.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for the Fort Worth school district did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Northwest ISD spokesperson Anthony Tosie and Arlington ISD spokesperson Taina Northington said their districts had not yet been served.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt this time, Arlington ISD has yet to display the posters and will be analyzing the lawsuit with our legal counsel to determine next steps,\u201d Northington told the Fort Worth Report.<\/p>\n

A statement from Mansfield ISD said the district cannot comment on pending litigation.<\/p>\n

Azle ISD spokesperson Amanda Moore said the district had not yet been served and cannot comment until leaders review the lawsuit with attorneys. <\/p>\n

Fort Worth school trustees are expected Tuesday evening to consider adopting Bluebonnet Learning reading lessons<\/a> for kindergarten through fifth-grade classes. The materials incorporate Bible stories, an inclusion that drew criticism when the State Board of Education approved them<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Senate Bill 10<\/a> by state Sen. Phil King, R-Weatherford, requires all Texas public classrooms display the Ten Commandments in a sign at least 16 by 20 inches in size and located in a visible place.<\/p>\n

King previously told the Report he expected legal challenges<\/a> when he proposed the law, but he foresees victory.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel very confident, if there is a lawsuit on the Texas Ten Commandments, that the Supreme Court will uphold our statute,\u201d said King, who represents parts of Tarrant County and Fort Worth.<\/p>\n

A Texas federal judge previously issued a temporary block of the Ten Commandments law for a dozen school districts<\/a>. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton appealed the ruling<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Klade and other families in the lawsuit are represented by Americans United for Separation of Church and State, the national and Texas branches of the American Civil Liberties Union and the Freedom From Religion Foundation.<\/p>\n

In June, federal appellate judges blocked a similar law in Louisiana<\/a> that they ruled as unconstitutional. The case is widely expected to make its way to the U.S. Supreme Court.<\/p>\n

What must be displayed in public classrooms?<\/p>\n

Senate Bill 10 requires all Texas public school classrooms to feature a sign with the Ten Commandments. Here\u2019s what the law<\/a> requires to be displayed:<\/p>\n

The Ten Commandments<\/p>\n

I AM the LORD thy God.<\/p>\n

Thou shalt have no other gods before me.<\/p>\n

Thou shalt not make to thyself any graven images.<\/p>\n

Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord thy God in vain.<\/p>\n

Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.<\/p>\n

Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.<\/p>\n

Thou shalt not kill.<\/p>\n

Thou shalt not commit adultery.<\/p>\n

Thou shalt not steal.<\/p>\n

Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.<\/p>\n

Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor\u2019s house.<\/p>\n

Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor\u2019s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his cattle, nor anything that is thy neighbor\u2019s.<\/p>\n

This is a developing story and will be updated frequently.<\/p>\n

Editor\u2019s note: This story was updated at 2:28 p.m. Sept. 22, 2025, with a statement from Azle ISD; at 2:19 p.m. with a statement from Mansfield ISD; and to clarify the spelling of Kristin Klade\u2019s name.<\/p>\n

Jacob Sanchez is education editor for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at jacob.sanchez@fortworthreport.org<\/a> or @_jacob_sanchez<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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