On Tuesday, June 20, 2023, a Stipulation of Dismissal was filed in the civil action between the Lexington County School District One and the S.C. Freedom Caucus, as a settlement agreement has been reached.
Before this lawsuit was filed, Lexington One initiated an internal review of the EL Education curriculum to ensure that SC Proviso 1.105 is being followed and the curriculum best serves our students and their educational goals. While the internal review did not reveal any violations of state law, Lexington One pursued a settlement in order for district and school administrators to give their full attention to the education of Lexington One students.
“Contesting this lawsuit would have redirected district resources, including employees’ time and attention, as well as taxpayers’ dollars, away from our primary focus,” said Dr. Gerrita Postlewait, superintendent of Lexington One. “We owed it to our entire community to find a solution that did not involve a lengthy and costly legal battle and to affirm that our district is, in fact, in compliance with all state laws. We are proud of the high-quality public education Lexington One educators provide, and we want to put this matter behind us so that schools may receive the benefit of our full support ”
If the matter had gone to court, the district would have faced an extremely broad Requests for Production for nine categories of documents, communications and materials. One of the requests was for all documents and communications referencing any of 40 terms including “decolonize,” “race,” “colorblind,” “colorblindness,” “affirmative action,” “inclusion,” “underrepresented,” and “allies.” These examples of some of the terms on the list are common words that may be found throughout South Carolina College and Career Ready Standards for multiple subjects.
The agreement reached enables the district to refocus all resources toward supporting best practices in teaching and learning that cultivate high levels of student engagement supported by family and community participation.