Wichita ? Three Hispanic families on Tuesday appealed a judge’s ruling upholding a Catholic school’s police requiring students to speak only English while at school.

The families filed their appeal with the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver. Their lawsuit against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Wichita sought to ban the policy at St. Anne’s Catholic School, claiming it created a hostile learning environment.

U.S. District Judge J. Thomas Marten found in favor of the diocese in August, ruling the English-only policy does not in itself create a hostile learning environment because it was neutral in its wording. In his ruling from the bench, Marten scolded both sides for bringing an issue about lunchroom and playground rules into a federal courtroom.