Conservative group sued SC school district over CRT. Here’s how much it cost the district
The Lexington 1 school district spent nearly $60,000 defending a lawsuit filed last year by the S.C. Freedom Caucus, a group of ultra-conservative state legislators who claimed the district was breaking state law by teaching critical race theory.
The district, which denied the caucus’ claims, released the legal costs this week in response to a public records request from The State Media Co.
In November, the South Carolina Freedom Caucus filed a civil case against Lexington 1, alleging the school district was teaching critical race theory, and therefore breaking state law and violating the state Constitution. The lawsuit was closed in June after the two parties reached a voluntary settlement agreement.
According to a public records request, it cost the Lexington 1 about $57,930.16 in legal expenditures.
The lawsuit charged that the district’s curriculum promoted indoctrinating students with “critical race theory-derived ideas,” and that it mandated teachers and staff be trained in “racist” concepts, according to previous reporting by The State. At the time, Lexington 1 was using EL Education Inc., a nonprofit that provides curriculum support and professional development to K-12 schools across the country.
According to a Lexington 1 news release, the district did an internal review of EL Education curriculum before the lawsuit was filed, and the review did not reveal any state law violations.
But the central Lexington County district decided to settle the lawsuit to avoid spending more time and money on it. Contesting it, the district said, would have meant investing time, attention and even more taxpayer dollars. In its settlement agreement with the Freedom Caucus, the district agreed to end all agreements with EL Education for curricula and other services following the 2022-2023 academic year.
“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,” Superintendent Gerrita Postlewait said in a news release. “We want to put this matter behind us so that schools may receive the benefit of our full support.”
However, state Rep. R. J. May, a Lexington Republican and vice chairman of the Freedom Caucus, disagreed. He told The State on Tuesday that the district was breaking state law, and that it didn’t need to spend to spend a single dime.
“At the very beginning of the lawsuit, they could’ve recognized their wrongdoing and agreed to remove EL Education,” May said. “Instead they choose to spend $60,000 of taxpayer money, until they realized they were unable to defend what they were doing.”
The caucus considered the case a victory.
“Career politicians, afraid to take on the teacher unions and education establishment, gaslit parents across South Carolina when we filed this lawsuit by claiming CRT wasn’t in our classrooms,” the Freedom Caucus chairman, Rep. Adam Morgan, R-Greenville, said in a June news release. “Despite the naysayers, the Freedom Caucus persevered, and won.”
The Freedom Caucus has another ongoing critical race theory lawsuit with the Charleston County School District.
