Galveston ISD must put donated Ten Commandments posters in classrooms within 10 days, judge rules

A Galveston County judge ruled Thursday morning that Galveston Independent School District must display donated Ten Commandments posters in classrooms within the next 10 days.

The order follows a lawsuit filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton last year after the district delayed placing the posters in its schools. Paxton argued that the delay violated Senate Bill 10, the state law that requires the displays.

Gov. Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 10 into law in late June 2025. It requires the Ten Commandments to be displayed in all public school classrooms.

Galveston ISD school board members postponed compliance while the law was being challenged in court. At a September 23 school board meeting, several trustees said they disagreed with the statute.

Trustee Ann Masel said the law "absolutely advocates one religion in our public education system over all other religions." She also said legislators should spend their time and money supporting public education instead.

Masel said she did not agree with the current law or its interpretation but would follow it.

After Abbott signed the bill, multiple lawsuits were filed. In August, a federal judge temporarily blocked 11 Texas school districts from complying with Senate Bill 10 and said the law likely violated the First Amendment.

Paxton appealed that ruling. The U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals later ruled that Texas could enforce the law and said the law did not establish an official state religion.

At Thursday's hearing, William Farrell, an attorney for the Office of the Attorney General, told the court that the law had been upheld.

"SB 10 is the law of the land, so I really don’t know why we’re continuing to argue about this," Farrell said. "It’s been upheld. There is no basis to not follow the law."

School Board President Anthony Brown said after the hearing that the district will comply. He said the district will have to decide where to place the posters based on how many have been donated.

Brown has said he does not agree with the new state law. He said the district's mission is to educate children and that about three quarters of its students come from families below the poverty line.

"I think this is a distraction, and it’s a constitutional issue," Brown said. "It’s important, but I want to be focusing on our kids, and this does not do that."

After the 5th Circuit ruling, civil rights activists asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review the state law that requires the posters.