A Hillsboro mother of five has filed a federal lawsuit against Hillsboro School District, claiming officials denied her reimbursement for homeschool curriculum because the materials reflected a Christian worldview.
Tessa Bulzan, a Marine veteran, left a six-figure job to homeschool her children after what she described as an incident at her children’s school that conflicted with her family’s moral and biblical beliefs. She joined the district’s homeschool partnership program in July 2025.
“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. “And so far, it’s been the best decision we’ve ever made.”
Bulzan said the homeschool partnership program seemed like an answer to prayer, especially since homeschooling costs can add up and her husband was earning less than $50,000 at his new job. She said the district initially told her that the Christian curriculum she was already using, including Abeka and Classical Conversations materials, met 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 devastated by the denial because the family had planned to use the reimbursement money for extracurricular activities and additional curriculum. She said she pressed a district administrator on why academically rigorous materials, including a cursive book used to help her daughter who has dyslexia, were being rejected.
According to Bulzan, the administrator acknowledged 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?”
Bulzan said her own investigation left her feeling singled out as a Christian, pointing to other curriculum submissions she said the district approved.
“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. And so they’re allowing other forms of worship for reimbursement, but they won’t allow my grammar book because it references God.”
In September, attorneys with Alliance Defending Freedom filed suit against Hillsboro School District in federal court on Bulzan’s behalf.
“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.”
Anderson said the Supreme Court has repeatedly ruled that when a government establishes a public benefit program open to any person, it cannot exclude religious conduct or content.
“In this case, it’s religious curriculum,” Anderson said. “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.”
A spokesperson for Hillsboro School District told Fox News Digital the district cannot comment on pending litigation.
