Pounds v. Katy Independent School District

The Katy Independent School District (district) (defendant), partnered with a private company that called itself Its My Artwork in order to raise money for art supplies. Its My Artwork created holiday cards using student artwork. The district sent parents at a district elementary school an Its My Artwork order form. Parents had no obligation to select artwork created in school art classes, and there was no evidence that art classes had been devoted to creating artwork with the cards in mind. The only content on the form relating to the district was the school’s name and the names of its art teachers. The order form contained a list of preset messages that parents could opt to add to the cards. Among the options were generic well-wishes as well as references to specific holidays such as Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanza. The district, in an effort to avoid litigation claiming a violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, blacked out one of the message options, which quoted the Gospel of Matthew. A group of parents (plaintiffs) sued the district, claiming that the district’s blacking out of the message option violated the First Amendment. The district court granted the district’s motion of summary judgment, holding that the district had not violated the Establishment Clause. The parents then moved for the district court to reconsider whether the blacking out nonetheless violated the First Amendment’s free-speech provisions.