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Teacher urges Pearland ISD to refuse state-required religious poster, calls policy unconstitutional
Summary
During public comment at the Oct. 14 board meeting, chemistry teacher Diana Gano said district leadership had told teachers to display a poster of the Ten Commandments and urged the board to join other districts in refusing to implement what she called an unconstitutional requirement tied to recent state law.
Diana Gano, a longtime chemistry teacher in Pearland ISD, addressed the board during the patron comment period on Oct. 14 to protest district direction she said required teachers to display a religious poster in classrooms.
Gano identified herself as a teacher with 20-plus years' service, including roles as department chair and District Teacher of the Year. She told trustees that her superintendent and local administrators had directed teachers to hang a King James Version text of the Ten Commandments in classrooms. Gano said she believes that posting a religious text in general‑education classrooms is inappropriate for a public school and runs counter to the diversity of the district’s students and staff.
Gano asked the board and Superintendent Doctor Berger to “join other districts and refuse to follow this law,” which she described as "blatantly anti‑constitutional" and divisive. She said the mandate put teachers in uncomfortable positions and risked exposing elementary‑age students to wording she described as inappropriate.
The board did not take action in response to the public comment during the meeting; under board rules, public-comment items are for the record and do not elicit board answers during that portion of the agenda.
