Last week on the Massachusetts Informed Parents Substack, we told you about a Christian father of a 5-year-old Lexington Public Schools (LPS) student who sent an opt out letter to the district at the beginning of the 2025-2026 school year for certain sensitive subjects that contradict his family’s religious beliefs. Rather than simply honor his request, the district claimed his letter lacked sufficient “specificity,” even though they had not provided the curriculum materials in advance for him to review.
Even further, this father found out that while the district was busy delaying their responses to his emails, they had taught his child a lesson that contained the very material he had instructed them to avoid.
This is a direct violation of parental rights by LPS – not only were this father’s express wishes disregarded, but his firmly held religious convictions were deemed unsubstantial. These actions threaten to erode the constitutional boundary between state authority and parental autonomy in the Commonwealth and across the country, especially given the recent Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) decision in Mahmoud v. Taylor.
Mahmoud began with several parents of diverse religious backgrounds, including both Christians and Muslims, requesting that their children be excused from class when pro-LGBTQ books were being read to students, as instructing their children with the pro-LGBTQ messages in these books would contradict their religious beliefs about God’s design for marriage, sexuality, and gender and interfere with their rights to direct the religious upbringing of their children. The school board initially agreed to allow such opt-outs, but ultimately reversed course and implemented a no opt-out policy for the LGBTQ-themed texts.
SCOTUS deemed this action unconstitutional and ruled that the religious liberty of these parents was indeed violated, and that the purpose of reading such books to young and impressionable children was to exert a “psychological pressure to conform” to the views that they espoused, rather than the religious views that their parents held.
Given the Mahmoud decision, parents have a constitutional right to receive notice and opt their children out of content in any class that substantially interferes with their right to direct their children’s religious upbringing, including LGBTQ content.
Therefore, LPS clearly violated the constitutional rights of this Lexington father.
In response to this injustice, our Massachusetts Liberty Legal Center (MLLC) and the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) sent a demand letter to LPS insisting that the district honor the parent’s written opt-out request and provide timely, transparent access to classroom materials and curricula. And if the LPS didn’t act, we made clear that we are prepared to pursue all available legal remedies – both for this parent, and for other families across Massachusetts who experience similar abuses.
LPS has still not taken action to correct this. So, MLLC and the ACLJ followed through and have now filed a complaint against the District in federal court.
This case seeks declaratory, injunctive, and compensatory relief to uphold the plaintiff’s constitutional and civil rights to direct the religious and moral upbringing of his child. We firmly believe the state has no right to override parental decisions or firmly held religious convictions, and we will do everything we can to strengthen parental rights through this lawsuit.
Read the full complaint below.
We are hopeful that Lexington Public Schools will recognize and correct their gravely unconstitutional error. However, we are prepared to do all we can to continue fighting for the rights of Massachusetts parents to direct the religious upbringing of their children – even when their children attend public school.
We are prayerful that this lawsuit will set a valuable precedent for parental rights, and we ask that you join us in praying for a positive result. Additionally, we are grateful for the ACLJ and their work in standing up for Constitutional rights at a national level.
As this case develops, we will continue to provide updates. But for MFI and MLLC to continue this crucial work, we need your help. Consider giving a generous donation today to uphold parental rights across the Commonwealth.
Help MFI keep up the crucial fight to protect parental rights in the Commonwealth. Give a generous donation today!
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