Spring Branch ISD forces parent group to remove a Ramadan display at Bunker Hill Elementary School

A Ramadan display at Bunker Hill Elementary School was removed Monday after Spring Branch ISD said it violated a policy on maintaining political and religious neutrality across the district. 

“Because the display was religious in nature, campus leaders were directed to remove it,” Spring Branch ISD said in a statement to the Houston Chronicle. A spokesperson for the school district said a parent complained about the display.

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The Parent Teacher Association’s cultural awareness committee set up the Ramadan display, said the committee’s chair, Casey Kaf Alghazal. The school has had decorations for the Islamic holy month in the past, she said, but not as large as the display put up this year.

Its removal comes as some Muslims feel discriminated against after Islamic schools have been barred from participating in Texas’ private school voucher program.  

Speaking for herself and not on behalf of the committee, Kaf Alghazal said the request to remove the Ramadan display felt politically motivated. The committee has worked on other holiday decorations including for Hanukkah, Christmas, and, alongside the Ramadan decor, Easter. She said she had also offered to buy materials for a nativity around Christmas, but that no one had taken her up on it. 

“My kid felt seen. That’s all it was supposed to be — for every kid to feel seen,” said Kaf Alghazal, who is Muslim. “Bunker Hill wanted that. Spring Branch doesn’t want that.”  

READ MORE: Why some Houston Muslims abandoned the city’s decades-old Ramadan tradition

The Harris County chapter of Moms for Liberty — a national conservative group that says it’s dedicated to parental rights and “the survival of America” — posted photos of Bunker Hill’s Ramadan display late last week on social media. The three-slide Instagram post showed the school’s lobby decorated with signage that said “Ramadan Mubarak,” as well as the use of a crescent moon; the crescent moon and star are generally recognized as Islamic symbols.

Moms for Liberty did not respond to the Chronicle’s requests for comment. The Instagram post has received hundreds of comments, many of which favored the Ramadan display. Replying to the comments, Moms for Liberty said Christmas trees, Easter eggs and bunnies are permissible because they are secular symbols, but crosses are a symbol of Christianity and therefore not permitted, just like a crescent moon shouldn’t be. 

“You cannot promote any particular religion IN A PUBLIC SCHOOL,” the group’s account wrote. “This is per US LAW.”  

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It’s hard for Kaf Alghazal to feel as though the issue isn’t about an anti-Muslim bias. She said previous religious symbols stayed up without interruptions, like the Star of David and Menorah. 

Following the Ramadan display’s mandated removal, Kaf Alghazal said the PTA decided to take down the Easter decorations as well in the spirit of fairness. 

“So, all the kids are now suffering because of this,” she said.