Tredyffrin/Easttown District Asks Judge To Toss 1st Amendment Lawsuit

PHILADELPHIA, PA — Tredyffrin/Easttown School District asked a federal judge this week to dismiss a lawsuit filed by a parent accusing the district of violating his First Amendment rights by preventing him from recording his voice dictating district records on diversity training.

Parent Benjamin M. Auslander accused the district in a lawsuit filed on April 12 of preventing him from accessing teacher training material provided to the district from Pacific Educational Group, a San Francisco nonprofit, that provides materials to school districts about racial equality.

Arthur McDonnell, the district's business manager, is also named as a defendant in the suit.

Auslander said in his lawsuit that the district's materials are related to critical race theory. Critical race theory is an academic concept typically taught at the college level that racism is embedded into U.S. laws and institutions, according to Reuters.

Brian Elias, a Blue Bell attorney, asked the judge to dismiss the lawsuit without a trial because Auslander was provided with full access to the training material.

Elias said the district did not violate Auslander's right to review the records.

"The plaintiff had full access to review the records," Elias said. "The plaintiff may have been unhappy with the inspection, but his displeasure with how the district conducted the inspection does not constitute a First Amendment violation."

Auslander's lawyer, Walter S. Zimolong III, of Villanova, countered that Auslander's rights were violated because he was not permitted to have a copy of the documents and record his mental impressions of what he was reading in the district's office.

"The defendants prevented Auslander from making his own copies of documents and an audio recording of his mental impressions of the PEG materials," Zimolong said.

Zimolong asked the court to rule in favor of Auslander without a trial, and to order the district to pay attorney fees.

U.S. Senior Judge Harvey Bartle III has scheduled the case for trial in February.

According to the the lawsuit:

• Auslander was given the opportunity on Feb. 7 to review 166 pages of teacher training materials in the district administration office.
• Auslander started making voice recordings on his phone while reading the materials.
• He was asked to stop by McDonnell. After he did not stop, McDonnell told Auslander to leave the office.
• Auslander later testified at a public school board meeting, criticizing the school policies regarding the training materials.

During a school board meeting in June, Dr. Richard Gusick, superintendent, repeatedly assured the parents present at the meeting that critical race theory is not taught in the classroom.

He said the district is developing a program to address diversity and equity issues based on researching and studying many programs.

PEG provided a two-day seminar in 2018 designed to foster thoughtful exploration of how race influences the culture and climate of school, according to the T/E website.