Reading curriculum with biblical teachings adopted by FWISD board in 6-3 vote

A controversial reading curriculum with biblical and Christian teachings will be implemented in the Fort Worth Independent School District next school year.

The Fort Worth ISD school board approved the Bluebonnet Learning curriculum for students in kindergarten through fifth grade in a 6-3 vote during its Tuesday meeting.

The change in reading curriculum comes forward as Fort Worth ISD awaits a decision from Texas Commissioner of Education Mike Morath on whether the district will be taken over by the state.

Superintendent Karen Molinar said adopting the Bluebonnet reading curriculum was the right step for the district. The curriculum is designed to reduce teacher prep time, reinforce previously-learned skills and concepts as students progress, and emphasize writing across subject areas, she said.

The curriculum comes at a price tag of $2.4 million, but the district receives up to $60 per student to implement it versus the standard $40 for other state-approved learning materials. Molinar said state funding will cover the cost of purchasing the curriculum, meaning the district will be able to adopt it essentially cost-free.

The curriculum includes family letters in Spanish and English that let parents know what their child’s class will cover in the next unit, with suggested topics to talk about at home.

The district has already introduced phonics and math portions of Bluebonnet Learning, which do not contain religious references, but the reading curriculum approved on Tuesday has faced statewide scrutiny for incorporating religion into literacy lessons. Amid its adoption last year by the State Board of Education as an option for local school districts to implement, opponents voiced concerns over separation of church and state in classrooms while supporters saw the curriculum as a way to highlight religion’s role in U.S. and Texas history.

Bluebonnet Reading’s biblical content creates controversy

Religion professors from Texas Christian University and Southern Methodist University have analyzed the curriculum, which has little acknowledgement of other religions such as Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism. Examples of these teachings include the Genesis creation and flood stories, the Last Supper and the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth.

Texas Education Agency officials have said a small portion of the curriculum contains those religious references, which were included “when contextually relevant for historical and literary value.”

Board members Quinton “Q” Phillips, Wallace Bridges and Camille Rodriguez voted against the proposal to adopt the curriculum.

Phillips said he was impressed by most aspects of the curriculum, but he was uncomfortable with the religious component. Although he’s a Christian himself, Phillips said he could imagine parents of other faiths, or of no faith, being upset when their children come home talking about Bible stories they learned at school.

“Private schools are for religious education,” Phillips said. “Public schools are for all children.”

About a half dozen parents and community members spoke during the meeting’s public comment section, asking the board not to adopt the curriculum. Among them was the Rev. Mary Spradlin, superintendent of the Mid-South and South Districts of the United Methodist Church’s Horizon Texas conference.

Spradlin, who is also a member of Pastors for Texas Children, said the curriculum is overloaded with concepts that are too advanced for the grade levels where they’re presented. The inclusion of biblical content is a part of a broader agenda to get more Christian messaging into public schools, she said.

“We value local control,” Spradlin told the board. “If you have not had time to review this curriculum properly, please take more time. If you feel you must adopt it to avoid takeover, then we have already lost local control.”

Molinar said the curriculum included biblical references in 18 of its 726 lessons. In those cases, the curriculum includes biblical stories “as a piece of literature,” and not in an effort to teach religion, she said.

Molinar also noted that Bluebonnet’s materials are available for public review.

Fort Worth ISD officials are expected to receive an answer on a potential state takeover by the end of the calendar year. The possibility comes as a result of a campus, the Leadership Academy at Forest Oak Sixth Grade Center, receiving its fifth failed state A-F rating in a row for 2023. The 2023 A-F accountability ratings were released earlier this year after a lawsuit delay. The campus has since closed and been consolidated with Forest Oak Middle School.

This story was originally published September 23, 2025 at 10:14 PM.