The U.S. Supreme Court in October announced it will not hear a case from Maryland challenging a public school’s lesson about Islam.
The case was brought in 2015 by a student at La Plata High School in Charles County, Md. The student and her parents asserted that specific portions of a world history class favored Islam.
After school officials said they would not excuse her from those portions of the assignment, her father ordered her not to complete it. The student’s refusal to do the work resulted in her losing some points, but it did not affect her final letter grade.
A lower court concluded that the school’s lesson plan, when presented in its proper context, didn’t endorse religion or compel students to profess belief in Islam or any other faith. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed the case, Wood v. Arnold; but the family, which was backed by a far-right legal group called the Thomas More Law Center, appealed to the Supreme Court.
The high court’s decision not to hear the case brings it to a close.
