Attorneys representing students who say they were traumatized by a school-sponsored event have filed a federal lawsuit targeting the East Baton Rouge School System and its leaders.

Exactly a year after their children attended a controversial “Day of Hope” field trip, two mothers are suing the East Baton Rouge Parish school system, saying the district lied and coerced them to take part in “a harmful and traumatizing church service on a school-sponsored field trip on school time.”

According to documents, the parents allege the event was a harmful and traumatizing church service that they lied about in order to get parents and students to attend. They also state in documents the damage to the parents and students that attended the event are long lasting and those involved should be held responsible.

Attorneys representing the families of multiple students have sent a letter to East Baton Rouge Parish Schools Superintendent Dr. Sito Narcisse seeking documents related to the school district's controversial "Day of Hope" trip.

These students and parents claim they were misled into participating in what they say turned out to be a religious event. They also question the decision of the organizers to separate students by gender. Female students listened to three speakers who spoke about personal experiences with being a virgin during college, sexual assault and suicide. Male students, however, mostly played games.

"This matter was not brought to the school board because the service contract amount was less than $10,000 and so the board trusts the superintendent to have some discretion under that threshold amount."

WBRZ planned to talk to superintendent Sito Narcisse at a speaking engagement Wednesday evening, but found out he had pulled out the night before.

The reliance on an outside organization to provide food is a departure from traditional practice. Typically, on student field trips in Baton Rouge, children are either provided a bag lunch by the school system or they can bring their own lunch if they prefer. Neither was the case at the Day of Hope. The district provided no bag lunches, relying instead on the food provided by the organizers. And students were told to leave their bags, purses and their own lunches at school.

One Facebook video from Aug. 31 promotes the event with 29:11’s founder Tremaine Sterling, who stands beside the school system’s superintendent Dr. Sito Narcisse. “I’m so excited about this partnership,” Narcisse says in the video. “We have great things coming between EBR and 29:11 Academy. It’s gonna be where all the seniors in all the high schools are going to participating. Just one of many partnerships that we have coming.”

Schoolgirls in Louisiana were allegedly told about "forgiving the offender" in rape cases as part of a controversial field trip to a local religious center.

At least 2,100 students from high schools across Baton Rouge attended what was promoted as a "College & Career Fair" on Tuesday, at the city's Living Faith Christian Center.

More than 2,100 students from Baton Rouge high schools were excused from classes Tuesday for the event. Since then, many parents and students have criticized the event on social media, saying students had been misled into participating in what they considered a religious event.

The East Baton Rouge school district is doubling down in its defense of the Day of Hope as criticisms pour in about what happened there.

According to reports from students, teachers who wanted to stay anonymous, and social media posts, boys and girls were separated by gender. A teacher says the girls were told to be proper and practice abstinence.

The boys reportedly did not get the same treatment—instead we were told they did push-up competitions.

One student on Facebook called it a horrible experience and said that it was not advertised to be a religious event.

A group of students in Baton Rouge, Louisiana thought that they were going to a career fair on Tuesday. Instead, they found that they had been sent to an event described as an anti-LGBT church service.

More than 2,100 students from Baton Rouge high schools were excused from classes Tuesday morning and hopped on school buses to attend what was billed as a “College & Career Fair.”

Some students, however, came away from this districtwide field trip upset, saying what they participated in felt more like a church service.