Facts
- Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) adopted LGBTQ+-inclusive children’s storybooks for use in elementary English Language Arts (pre-K through 5th grade), addressing sexual orientation and gender identity.
- MCPS initially provided parents notice and permitted their children to be excused from lessons using the storybooks.
- In March 2023, MCPS ended notice and rescinded opt-outs, stating students could not be excused from that instruction for any reason.
- MCPS justified the change by citing administrative difficulty, increased absenteeism, and concerns that opt-outs could stigmatize students and families reflected in the books.
- Parent-plaintiffs (Muslim, Roman Catholic, and Ukrainian Orthodox) asserted sincere religious beliefs about sexuality, marriage, and gender and claimed the instruction conveyed views contrary to their faith-based obligations to direct their children’s moral and religious formation.
- The parents did not seek removal of the books from the curriculum; they sought (1) advance notice and (2) the ability to opt their own children out of the lessons.
Issues
- Whether a public school substantially burdens parents’ Free Exercise rights by requiring elementary students to participate in instruction on gender and sexuality that conflicts with parents’ sincere religious beliefs, without notice or an opt-out option.
- Whether the parents satisfied the requirements for a preliminary injunction restoring notice and opt-outs while the case proceeds.
Decision
- The Supreme Court reversed the judgment below and remanded with instructions to grant a preliminary injunction.
- The Court held the parents were likely to succeed on their Free Exercise claim because the policy posed a “very real threat of undermining the religious beliefs and practices that the parents wish to instill in their children.”
- The Court concluded that conditioning access to public elementary education on compelled participation in the challenged instruction, without notice or any opt-out, imposed a constitutionally cognizable burden on religious exercise.
- The Court treated notice and opt-out as limited relief that preserved the school’s ability to teach the materials to other students while accommodating religious objectors.
- The Court found the record did not show that asserted third-party harms (including stigma) justified refusing any opt-out in this setting.
- Justice Thomas concurred.
- Justice Sotomayor dissented, joined by Justices Kagan and Jackson.
Legal Principles
- The Free Exercise Clause is burdened when government conditions the benefit of free public education on parents’ acceptance of compelled elementary instruction that substantially interferes with the religious formation parents seek to provide.
- In the elementary-school context, when a school has reason to know that specific instructional materials will substantially interfere with a family’s religious development, the Constitution may require (at least for preliminary relief) reasonable measures such as advance notice and an opportunity to opt a child out.
- For preliminary injunctions, courts assess likelihood of success on the merits, irreparable harm, balance of equities, and the public interest; ongoing interference with claimed religious formation of young children can constitute irreparable harm.
- Administrative convenience and generalized concerns about stigma, without adequate evidentiary support or tailoring, may be insufficient to deny all religious opt-outs where the requested accommodation is limited and previously administered.
Conclusion
The Court ruled that MCPS’s elimination of notice and opt-outs for elementary lessons using LGBTQ+-inclusive storybooks likely imposed a substantial Free Exercise burden on objecting parents and ordered preliminary injunctive relief requiring notice and an opt-out option while the litigation continues.