A Galveston County judge ruled on Thursday morning that Galveston Independent School District leaders are required to display donated Ten Commandments posters in classrooms within the next 10 days.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxtonsued the districtlast year after it delayed displaying the posters, which isrequired by state law.Galveston ISD school board members decided todelay the displayswhile the law faced legal challenges.
Gov. Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 10into law in late June 2025, requiring the Ten Commandments to be displayed in all public-school classrooms. Soon after, multiple lawsuits were filed. A federal judge in Augusttemporarily blocked11 Texas school districts from complying with SB 10, citing likely violations of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Paxton appealed the August ruling, and the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals eventuallytookup the issue. The court ultimatelyruled that Texas can enforce the state lawafter deciding the law does not establish an official state religion.
"SB 10 is the law of the land, so I really don’t know why we’re continuing to argue about this. It’s been upheld. There is no basis to not follow the law," William Farrell, an attorney representing the Office of the Attorney General, said at Thursday's hearing.
After Thursday's hearing, Galveston ISD School Board President Anthony Brown said the district will comply and will have to decide where to place the posters based on how many have been donated to the district. Brown has previously stated that he doesn't agree with the new state law.
"Our mission is to educate kids, and we have three-quarters of our kids come from families below the poverty line. We have a lot of work to do," Brown said. "I think this is a distraction, and it’s a constitutional issue ... It’s important, but I want to be focusing on our kids, and this does not do that."
At a September 23 school board meeting, multiple school board trustees expressed their disagreement with SB 10.
"It absolutely advocates one religion in our public education system over all other religions," trustee Ann Masel said. "Perhaps a better use of our legislators’ time and money would be spent on assisting public education and its job of teaching children math, reading and writing and supporting those teachers entrusted with that calling."
Masel added that although she doesn’t agree with the current law or its interpretation, she will follow it.
After the ruling by the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, civil rights activistsasked the U.S. Supreme Courtto review the state law requiring Ten Commandments posters in classrooms.
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