Kansas district settles lawsuit over student pronouns

By MARGARET STAFFORD
Associated Press

A Kansas school district has settled a lawsuit filed by a teacher who was suspended because she refused to use a student’s preferred pronouns. Former Fort Riley Middle School math teacher Pamela Ricard sued the Geary County School District in March after she was suspended for three days in the spring of 2021. She said the district refused her request for a religious exemption from its policy on preferred pronouns. She also said she was told not to tell a student’s parents about their child’s preference if that’s what the child wanted. Under the settlement announced Wednesday, the district agreed to pay $95,000 to Ricard, who has retired from the district. Ricard is now teaching in Oklahoma.