Montgomery County Public Schools must pay $1.5 million to the families who fought to excuse their children from lessons at odds with their religious beliefs, lawyers for the parents announced Friday.
This financial fallout is just one of many reverberations from the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2025 decision to side with families who sued for the right to opt out of classes that included storybooks with LGBTQIA+ themes.
“Montgomery County was an extreme outlier on this issue,” said Eric Baxter, senior counsel at Becket, the firm that represented the parents. “That’s not just a bad decision that destroys trust with parents, but it’s also a costly decision. And I hope other schools will take note.”
The order, signed Thursday by federal District Court Judge Deborah L. Boardman, delivers other wins to the parents.
The Montgomery County school board must notify families in advance when the schools plan to use one of the books at the heart of the case — or any similar book — in a lesson.
The parents are also entitled to reasonable attorneys’ fees, the order states. Baxter declined to say how much more that will cost Maryland’s largest school district.
District spokesperson Liliana López said the school officials are focused on the steps already taken to meet the court’s mandate.
“This work is ongoing, and we remain dedicated to partnering with our families to guarantee we are moving forward in a way that aligns with the court’s decision,” she said.
Changes in MCPS
The parents sued after the school district introduced new English lesson materials in 2022, including some books with LGBTQIA+ themes. Stories included a prince falling in love with a knight while battling a dragon, and a transgender boy sharing his identity with his family.
Suddenly, the heavily Democratic — and culturally, religiously and racially diverse — county was launched into the center of a national culture war.
A group of Catholic, Muslim and Ukrainian Orthodox parents organized and sued the district, and their case eventually reached the Supreme Court.
The majority of justices in a 2025 decision sided with those families, writing that the books used in Montgomery County schools “carry with them ‘a very real threat of undermining’ the religious beliefs that the parents wish to instill in their children.”
In response, school leaders rolled out the “Refrigerator Curriculum” before this school year. The online tool gives parents a brief overview of what students will be learning in each grading period, and it includes links to all the selected texts. Parents can opt-out if they have a religious objection.
After the court order, the district will have to do more to provide notice to the families.
Opt-outs so far
During the first semester that followed the Supreme Court’s ruling, very few parents used the opt-out option, according to public records reviewed by The Banner.
In a district of more than 156,000 students, 56 families asked to excuse their children from reading books that conflict with their religious beliefs in the first four months of the school year.
Most opt-outs came from elementary school parents. Their objections generally centered on books with LGBTQIA+ characters, as well as those that included themes of diversity, an analysis found.
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