A group of 18 multifaith and nonreligious Texas families filed a class action lawsuit on December 2 to stop all Texas public school districts that are not already involved in active litigation or subject to an injunction from displaying the Ten Commandments in every classroom. Even though two federal judges in Texas have ruled that Senate Bill 10 is unconstitutional, school districts across the state continue to display the Ten Commandments.

Katy ISD is one of the 16 districts named in the suit, according to the Americans United website.

Ashby v. Schertz-Cibolo-Universal City Independent School District is the first class action lawsuit and the third lawsuit, challenging Senate Bill 10 filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, the ACLU, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and the Freedom From Religion Foundation, with Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP serving as pro bono counsel.

“In all three cases, the organizations represent Texas families who don’t want their children to be forced to observe and venerate a state-mandated version of the Ten Commandments each school day, in violation of their religious freedom,” according to a statement on the Americans United website.

The plaintiff families, which represent a range of faiths and nonreligious backgrounds, attend 16 school districts not named in the previous two cases. In addition to Katy ISD, the school districts named as defendants include Argyle, Birdville, Carroll, Clear Creek, Deer Park, Fort Sam Houston, Hurst-Euless-Bedford, Liberty Hill, Magnolia, Medina Valley, Pearland, Prosper, Richardson, Schertz-Cibolo-Universal City, and Wylie ISDs.

“I send my child to public school because I do not want the government to push religious beliefs and doctrine on my child,” said plaintiff Kasey Malone whose child attends school in Katy ISD, according to a statement on the AU website. “Yet the government is doing just that by elevating Christianity over my child’s nonreligious beliefs.”

“The courts are clear that forcing displays of the Ten Commandments on Texas students is unconstitutional,” said Chloe Kempf, attorney at the ACLU of Texas in a press release sent by the participating organizations. “Yet Texas school districts won’t stop. Enough is enough. With this class action lawsuit, Texans are coming together to say: Students and families — not the government — should decide how or whether they practice their faith.”

The Katy Times reached out to Katy ISD for comment on the case as well as for details on what will happen to posters now in place as well as to future donations of posters. “The district does not comment on pending litigation,” according to a spokesperson for KISD media relations.