Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is demanding proof that school districts across the state, including three in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, are displaying the Ten Commandments in classrooms, as required by a 2025 state law.

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Paxton’s office announced the investigation Thursday. As a part of the investigation, the attorney general’s office is also demanding that the 29 school districts turn over proof that their boards have voted on a policy to require school prayer. 

Related:Texas mandated displaying the Ten Commandments in classrooms. What legal battles ensued?

The 29 districts targeted by the investigation were involved in lawsuits challenging Senate Bill 10, which requires public schools to display donated copies of the Protestant version of the Ten Commandments in classrooms. Dallas, Fort Worth and Plano ISDs are among the districts.

Officials with Dallas, Fort Worth and Plano ISDs didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

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The requirement has been a topic of ongoing court battles since before the law went into effect in September. In August, a federal judge barred 11 districts, including Plano, Austin and Houston ISDs, from putting up displays.

In a separate lawsuit, a federal judge issued a ruling in November ordering 14 districts, including Fort Worth, Arlington, McKinney, Frisco, Northwest, Azle, Rockwall, Lovejoy and Mansfield, to remove their displays. The same month, Paxton sued Round Rock, Leander and Galveston ISDs, seeking to force them to put up the displays.

Related:Teachers confused over how to meet state law requiring Ten Commandments in classrooms

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Last month, a federal appeals court ruled that Texas may enforce the requirement, saying the displays don’t constitute religious indoctrination. 

In a statement, Paxton pledged to “fight for students’ fundamental right to pray in our schools and work to ensure that Texas kids are able to learn from the Ten Commandments daily.”

“Texas schools districts must comply with Texas law by displaying the Ten Commandments and taking a school board vote regarding the implementation of prayer time in schools,” he said. “I will never stop defending our students’ religious freedom and the moral foundation of our nation.”

The DMN Education Lab deepens the coverage and conversation about urgent education issues critical to the future of North Texas.

 The DMN Education Lab is a community-funded journalism initiative, with support from Bobby and Lottye Lyle, Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Foundation, Dallas Regional Chamber, Deedie Rose, Garrett and Cecilia Boone, Judy and Jim Gibbs, The Meadows Foundation, The Murrell Foundation, Ron and Phyllis Steinhart, Solutions Journalism Network, Southern Methodist University, Sydney Smith Hicks, and the University of Texas at Dallas. The Dallas Morning News retains full editorial control of the Education Lab’s journalism.

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