Houston-area school district pushes back on Gov. Abbott's order to halt Islamic Games

A Houston area public school district is refusing to comply with an order issued by Gov. Greg Abbott to halt hosting an Islamic Games event on its campus.

The Islamic Games had scheduled two major events in Texas at taxpayer-funded public-school facilities, including the Houston Islamic Games at Bridgeland High School in Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District. A north Texas district canceled its event last month.

The Islamic Games claims to be “the premier Muslim sports and athletic event in North America, dedicated to promoting physical excellence, unity, and community development.” It listed more than 100 sponsors on its website, including the Council on American-Islamic Relations-New Jersey. Last November, Gov. Abbott designated CAIR as a foreign terrorist organization and subsequently called for investigations into it and other Islamic groups, The Center Square reported. CAIR denies the allegations and has sued.

Two weeks ago, Abbott sent a letter to CFISD saying, "It has come to my attention that Bridgeland High School intends to offer public school facilities to host the 2026 Houston Islamic Games," adding that he designated CAIR as an FTO. "You cannot invite such dangers through the front doors of our schools. Texans deserve immediate action to curb the spread of Islamic extremism, and public facilities funded by their tax dollars will not be utilized to host terrorist related groups," The Center Square reported.

CFISD issued a statement appearing to parse words, stating public school property was being used by community groups, including the Islamic Games.

“CFISD currently has 15 different churches of different denominations using our facilities weekly. GKD (LOCAL) does not distinguish between religions in our facility use guidelines, nor does the district distinguish between religious and non-religious viewpoints,” it said in a statement. It cited a Supreme Court ruling stating that religious groups using taxpayer-funded facilities doesn’t violate the U.S. Constitution if the use is not school-sponsored.

It also said CFISD “has no facility use agreements in place for the 2026-2027 school year for outside users of campus facilities, as community groups are not permitted to reserve space for the following school year until Aug. 1.” It previously entered into a facility use agreement with the Islamic Games of North America for a September 2025 event, it acknowledged.

It also said CFISD “never contracted with CAIR NJ, nor is it aware of any affiliation between the Islamic Games of North America and CAIR NJ during its prior rental of facilities to the Islamic Games of North America. CFISD is aware of the state prohibition against governmental entities entering into contracts with companies identified as foreign terrorist organizations and has fully complied with this statute.”

Doubling down on this position, CFISD Superintendent Douglas Killian wrote a letter to Abbott stating that the Islamic Games "is not identified as a foreign terrorist organization," The Houston Chronicle reported. "If there is an existing legal basis for the edict to disallow The Islamic Games of North America from using CFISD facilities that was inadvertently left out of your correspondence, please provide this citation," he added.

He also said CFISD would cooperate with all investigations and “has nothing to hide."

Abbott directed CFISD to preserve all records and communications about the event and confirm with his office that any negotiations or agreements were terminated. Killian notified Abbott that CFISD wasn’t canceling the Islamic Games.

Abbott previously said he would direct the Texas Education Agency “to immediately seize and uncover any communications district employees may have regarding CAIR, any attempts to conceal CAIR’s involvement, and any agreements or financial statements related to the proposed event,” and noncompliance would likely result in legal action.

Attorney General Ken Paxton also launched an investigation into CFISD requesting it to provide communications, contracts and related documents related to IGNA, CAIR or affiliated chapters, The Center Square reported.

Killian, whose salary is nearly $500,000, leads a district drowning in debt and high property taxes. The district is facing a $50 million deficit after continuously increasing property taxes. It’s also proposed calling for another bond election in May to increase debt and taxes even more after a 2019 $1.76 billion bond passed. This proposal includes another $1.75 billion bond saddling taxpayers with debt for another four decades.

Killian’s refusal to comply with Abbott’s request comes as Texas lawmakers are leading multiple anti-Sharia law initiatives, The Center Square reported. A Texas mayor banned Sharia law; the state comptroller is holding school choice applications submitted by private schools with potential connections to foreign adversaries, including to Sharia law; a state representative had called for legislative hearings to ban Sharia law; and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick listed banning Sharia Law as a top legislative priority for the next legislative session, The Center Square reported.