Adding your name

Am I eligible?

If you live in the San Francisco Bay Area and believe that the public schools should not support or favor a particular religious faith, you can be a plaintiff. All plaintiffs hold that belief for different — as well as similar — reasons.

The most common questions, answered plainly:

Do I need to be a PAUSD parent whose child has been part of the Social Justice Pathway at Paly?

No

Do I need to be a PAUSD parent with a child who may or may not choose SJP?

No

Do I need to be a PAUSD parent at all?

No

Do I need to be a parent of a high schooler?

No

Do I need to have a child in public school?

No

Do I need to be religious?

No

Can I have, or have had, a child in a religious private school — Christian, Muslim, Jewish, or otherwise?

Yes

What does participating actually mean?

Does it cost anything?

No

Will I make any money?

No

Do I have to talk to the press?

No

Does this take a lot of time?

No

Is this a rare chance to stand up for our nation’s constitutional principles?

Yes

Can I participate anonymously?

Maybe. So far four plaintiffs are interested in doing this. Ultimately the question is for the judge, who is likely to allow confidentiality only where there is a real risk from public identification — personal, economic, or social.

On a continuum: those most likely to be permitted to participate confidentially are students in the SJP program now, or about to enter it or avoid it, since those students will face peer pressure leading to social and possibly academic problems. Those least likely are adults removed from that social environment whose concern is being portrayed by friends and colleagues as “Islamophobic.”

Will this case damage the financial soundness of PAUSD?

No. Most likely PAUSD has insurance coverage for claims like this. In any event, we do not seek a damage award from PAUSD — just a court order stating that PAUSD has violated the law and cannot do so again.