In an amended complaint filed Monday in federal court, the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania has alleged that Central Bucks School District administration and its right-wing board of directors majority, along with legal counsel from the law firm Duane Morris, have deceived the public and provided false information in a report that was issued last spring.
“The district got what they paid for – a one-sided investigation that was never intended to take seriously the allegations of a hostile environment for LGBTQ students at Central Bucks,” said Witold Walczak, legal director of the ACLU of Pennsylvania said in a press release. “They wanted to scapegoat Andrew to distract from their egregious failure to support LGBTQ+ students in the district.”
The filing represents the most recent development in a legal case initiated in April. The lawsuit, brought by Andrew Burgess, a district teacher, contends that the district took retaliatory measures against him due to his advocacy on behalf of a transgender student subjected to harassment and bullying within the school environment.
The ACLU claims that Burgess was suspended for violating a not yet created board policy and that district investigators failed to talk with the student or the student’s family who could have verified details provided by Burgess.
“What they’ve done here is illegal retaliation,” Walczak said. “They were warned by the Office for Civil Rights not to retaliate against Andrew or anyone else who filed complaints, and they did it anyway, at the cost of over a million dollars to district taxpayers.”
More information about this case, including the latest filing, is available at aclupa.org/Burgess.
READ THE BEACON’S CENTRAL BUCKS SCHOOL DISTRICT COVERAGE:
It Takes A Village: Expelling Right-Wing Extremism From Bucks County School Districts
The ‘Stranger Things’ Turning Central Bucks School District Upside Down
CBSD High School Seniors: Allow Us to Receive Our Diplomas from Alternate School Board Members
Today, Tomorrow, and Yesterday as a Transgender Youth – in Bucks County and Across the Country
Central Bucks School District Breaks Up With High Priced Devine + Partners: It’s Not You, It’s Us
3-2-1 Protest: Central Bucks Community Demonstrates Against Education Gag Policy
Central Bucks School District Looks to Muzzle Teachers in the Classroom
Petition to Redraw Central Bucks School District’s Regions Map Would Reshape School Board Elections
Central Bucks School District Wants To Pay A PR Firm $15,000 Per Month To Spin Its Divisive Policies
The Bucks County Courier Times Fails Readers With Its Book (Banning) Policy Editorial
Right-Wing Politics And Moral Panic Driving Policy Targeting Central Bucks School District Libraries
Shelving Facts and Fiction About Central Bucks School District’s Disputed Library Policy
Astroturfing In Central Bucks School District: Moms For Liberty And Book Bans
Central Bucks School District’s Draft Library Policy Overhaul Opens The Door To Censorship
Will Rage Trump Reason In Central Bucks Book Banning Debate?
Protecting Public Education Can Help Protect the Country from Another January 6th Insurrection
Nearly Half of LGBTQ Youth in Pennsylvania Considered Suicide in Past Year
Pennsylvania’s ‘Don’t Say Gay’ Bill Could Be More Extreme Than Florida’s
