McAllen Independent School District has pulled copies of the Ten Commandments from its classrooms after a federal judge signed an order temporarily blocking the postings while a lawsuit over Texas' new law plays out. Superintendent Dr. Rene Gutierrez told staff the district would follow the court's instructions and has routed public questions to the district's lawyers. The decision suddenly drops this Rio Grande Valley district into the middle of a statewide fight over religion in public schools, as reported by MySA.
According to MySA, McAllen was named as a defendant in a federal lawsuit filed this summer by parents from more than a dozen Texas districts. In an Oct. 24 court filing, the district asked to be dismissed from the case, arguing it had only put up the Ten Commandments to comply with state law. U.S. District Judge Orlando L. Garcia granted that request on Oct. 30, but made dismissal conditional on McAllen following all court orders, including keeping the commandments off classroom walls while the case continues. Gutierrez followed up with a Nov. 16 letter instructing campuses to remove any Ten Commandments displays immediately.
State law at the center
Senate Bill 10 requires that a poster or framed copy of the Ten Commandments be placed “in a conspicuous place in each classroom” beginning with the 2025–26 school year. As outlined on capitol.texas.gov, the statute sets minimum size and readability rules and lets districts accept privately donated posters that meet those standards. The attorney general's office later issued legal guidance urging districts that are not under court orders to go ahead and comply with the new requirement, according to a notice from Attorney General Ken Paxton.
Legal pushback and injunctions
The law quickly wound up in federal court, and judges have granted temporary injunctions that halt enforcement in several large districts while the challenges move forward. The Associated Press reports that courts have signaled the statute is likely to violate the First Amendment because it risks coercing students into religious observance. Civil-liberties groups, including the ACLU, are leading lawsuits on behalf of families who say the mandatory displays marginalize nonreligious students. Plaintiffs argue the posters send a message that people who do not share those beliefs are outsiders and that the requirement undercuts parents' rights to raise their children according to their own faith or lack of one.
Why McAllen stepped back
McAllen's attorneys told the court the district did not want to remain an active party in the lawsuit, a stance reflected in its Oct. 24 dismissal request and Judge Garcia's conditional order, MySA reported. That cautious move lines up with other districts that have quietly paused Ten Commandments postings to sidestep expensive litigation, even as some school boards have resisted and others have gone ahead under pressure from state officials. The Houston Chronicle has documented a patchwork of responses across Texas as courts sort out who must follow the mandate while appeals are pending.
Legal implications
At the core of the fight is a classic First Amendment question: can a state require that a religious text be posted in every public school classroom. Federal rulings so far suggest the law edges into unconstitutional government endorsement of religion, a concern highlighted in reporting by the Associated Press. How judges ultimately rule could define how far states are allowed to go in mandating religious content in public education and how courts weigh historical arguments against the Establishment Clause.
For now, McAllen classrooms will leave the Ten Commandments off their walls while the lawsuit and any appeals run their course. Families and school officials across Texas are watching closely to see whether the law survives intact or gets scaled back by the courts.
