CLEVELAND - The White County school board and the ACLU reportedly have reach a tentative agreement to settle a suit growing out of attempts to for a gay support club at White County High School.
The White County News says, however, the case will not be officially settled, according to both sides, until all parties sign the agreement.
The paper, quoting sources close to the matter, says the school board, through its insurance company, has agreed to pay the ACLU $168,000 to cover court costs and another $10,000 to the student plaintiffs.
White County must also set up an anti-bullying program at both the high school and the ninth grade academy, according to the report.
A hearing in federal court in Gainesville in June heard from high school graduate Kerry Pacer, president of PRIDE - or Peers Rising In Diversity Education - who brought the suit. She testified students booed her when she received a rose at a school gathering. She told the court she heard announcements about other non-curricular clubs on the school P.A. system during her senior year after PRIDE was banned from meeting on
Principal Brian Dorsey testified he decided no non-curricular clubs would meet on campus. But ACLU attorneys presented morning school bulletins as evidence that those clubs did meet and those morning announcements were made on the public address system.
(AccessNorthGa.com's Jerry Gunn contributed to this story.)
Monday
January 20th, 2025
3:58PM
