Hillsboro School District sued over Christian curriculum reimbursement

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A Marine veteran and mother of five is suing an Oregon school district, alleging officials denied reimbursement for academic curriculum solely because the books reflected a Christian worldview.

Tessa Bulzan, who left a six-figure job after an incident at her children’s school conflicted with her moral and biblical beliefs, joined Hillsboro School District’s homeschool partnership program in July 2025. She says the district initially approved her Christian curriculum as academically valid before denying reimbursement months later.

“There was an incident where a teacher said something against our moral and biblical beliefs, and it was so convicting and, after a lot of prayer, my husband and I decided that I would quit my six-figure job and I would become a stay-at-home mother and start homeschooling our children,” Bulzan told Fox News Digital on Wednesday. “And so far, it’s been the best decision we’ve ever made.”

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Bulzan said joining Hillsboro’s homeschool partnership program felt like an answer to prayer, particularly because homeschooling was expensive, and her husband was earning less than $50,000 in his new job.

She said the family was encouraged to learn that the Christian curriculum they were already using, including Abeka and Classical Conversations, met the district’s academic requirements.

“Then in January, when we went to go reimburse or seek reimbursement for that curriculum, we were denied solely on its author’s biblical world beliefs,” Bulzan said.

Bulzan said she was shocked and devastated when her reimbursement request was denied because the family had planned to use the money for extracurricular activities and additional curriculum.

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Close-up of a child’s hands folded in prayer resting on a Bible

She said she questioned an administrator about why the district would reject academically rigorous core materials, including a cursive book used to help her daughter, who has dyslexia. According to Bulzan, the administrator acknowledged that there was no comparable alternative at the same academic level but said the materials could not be funded because of the author’s biblical worldview, references to God and incidental Scripture.

“One-hundred percent, it was discrimination,” Bulzan said. “When I first started the program, I was told that all of my curriculum not only met the standards of the school board and the state of Oregon, but it excelled and went past most of their standards for all of their core.”

“So, math, arithmetic, writing, grammar, all of these books that I was using to satisfy their academic requirements were all being accepted and there was no argument, there was no denial of that,” she continued. “When I was denied, I wanted to understand, is it just because it’s the Bible or and my Christian beliefs, or is it because they just are trying to be neutral? They’re trying to make sure that everybody has a fair play in the reimbursement process.”

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Students read books together in a school classroom.

Bulzan said that after some investigation on her part, she felt as if she was being singled out.

“What I quickly realized is that that’s not true, that they were singling me out as a Christian because I bought two different books with very, very secular and very opposing worldviews that I, in my opinion, should not be taught or be within the school district,” she said.

“One of them is of Indian or ancestral nature where they’re worshiping water spirits, and they believe that as you drink water, these spirits become part of you,” Bulzan added. “And so they’re allowing other forms of worship for reimbursement, but they won’t allow my grammar book because it references God.”

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A gavel, legal books, and a statue of Themis on a judge's desk.

In September, ADF attorneys filed suit against the Hillsboro School District in federal court.

“We just filed this case in federal court in Oregon, so it’s very early stages, but the case is really clear here,” ADF attorney Kate Anderson told Fox News Digital.

“This is religious discrimination, and it’s discrimination that the Supreme Court and the Constitution does not stand for,” she added. “Over the last decade, the Supreme Court has over and over again said that when a government sets out a public benefit program like this funding that can go to any person, it cannot exclude religious conduct, religious content.”

“In this case, it’s religious curriculum,” Anderson added. “Religious families need to be treated on equal footing with secular families and the same with their curriculum. And so this violates the Constitution very clearly, and we’re very hopeful that the court will step in quickly.”

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