What to know about Lexington 1 lawsuit over board member's ‘ghetto’ comments

A Lexington County mother is suing the Lexington 1 school district after a school board member criticized River Bluff High School’s Black History Month fashion show on social media. The lawsuit claims the district failed to control board member Katie McCown, whose comments led to public humiliation of student participants.

FULL STORY: Midlands school district faces lawsuit over response to Black fashion show

Here are key takeaways:

• Board member Katie McCown called the student-run, on-campus fashion show “vulgar” and “ghetto” in since-deleted Facebook posts on her campaign page earlier this year.
• The lawsuit, filed May 15 by mother Fynale Barnwell, says McCown posted images of students without consent, exposing them to “ridicule, harassment, and humiliation.” It seeks unspecified damages.
• Under state law, only the governor can remove an elected school board member, and only when evidence of criminal conduct arises. Other board members said they have no mechanism to censor a colleague’s opinions.
• A specially called March 19 board meeting to seek legal advice on board member conduct was canceled after most members didn’t show up, leaving no quorum.
• Barnwell’s daughter Marissa previously sued Lexington 1 over a 2022 incident involving the Pledge of Allegiance at River Bluff. The family received a $75,000 settlement last year.

The summary points above were compiled with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists. The full story in the link at top was reported, written and edited entirely by journalists.