MCPS must pay $1.5 million to opt-out families over LGBT books lawsuit

[Anonymous]

This decision was just announced and reported on by the Banner: https://www.thebanner.com/education/k-12-schools/mcps-supreme-court-lgbtq-lawsuit-settlement-ZWJUKFIO7JBTZDKQ2ISUQXCI3E/

Montgomery County Public Schools must pay $1.5 million to the families who fought to excuse their children from lessons at odds with their religious beliefs, lawyers for the parents announced Friday.

This financial fallout is just one of many reverberations from the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2025 decision to side with families who sued for the right to opt out of classes that included LGBTQIA+ storybooks.

“Montgomery County was an extreme outlier on this issue,” said Eric Baxter, senior counsel at Becket, the firm that represented the parents. “That’s not just a bad decision that destroys trust with parents, but it’s also a costly decision. And I hope other schools will take note.”

The order, signed Thursday by federal District Court Judge Deborah L. Boardman, delivers other wins to the parents.

The Montgomery County school board must notify families in advance when the schools plan to use one of the books at the heart of the case — or any similar books — in lessons.

The parents are also entitled to reasonable attorneys’ fees, the order states. Baxter declined to say how much more that will cost Maryland’s largest school district.

District spokesperson Liliana López did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

This was avoidable if MCPS and the BOE had acted with reason, discernment and intelligence.

[Anonymous]

Wow. New year, another million!!! Where is the BOE?!

[Anonymous]

That’s probably less compared to what MCPS spent on its own attorney fees

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow. New year, another million!!! Where is the BOE?!

To be fair, the former BOE, and namely Lynne Harris, are the main reason why this happened in the first place. Lynne got pushed out as a result.

On the other hand, I'm not confident the current BOE would have made different decisions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow. New year, another million!!! Where is the BOE?!

To be fair, the former BOE, and namely Lynne Harris, are the main reason why this happened in the first place. Lynne got pushed out as a result.

On the other hand, I'm not confident the current BOE would have made different decisions.

Whoever is responsible should pay back each county tax payer.

[Anonymous]

For those who speak legalese, you can peruse the actual decision yourself: https://becketnewsite.s3.amazonaws.com/20260219151333/Consent-Judgment-in-Mahmoud-v-Taylor.pdf

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow. New year, another million!!! Where is the BOE?!

To be fair, the former BOE, and namely Lynne Harris, are the main reason why this happened in the first place. Lynne got pushed out as a result.

On the other hand, I'm not confident the current BOE would have made different decisions.

Whoever is responsible should pay back each county tax payer.

Karla, Brenda, Grace and Julie were part of the BOE that made the decisions that led to this lawsuit. Two of them are jumping ship for the County Council. One of them, Grace, is running for re-election.

If voters in Montgomery County are smart, we'll make sure Karla and Julie never make it to the County Council and that we dump Grace Rivera-Oven from the BOE this election cycle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow. New year, another million!!! Where is the BOE?!

To be fair, the former BOE, and namely Lynne Harris, are the main reason why this happened in the first place. Lynne got pushed out as a result.

On the other hand, I'm not confident the current BOE would have made different decisions.

Whoever is responsible should pay back each county tax payer.

Karla, Brenda, Grace and Julie were part of the BOE that made the decisions that led to this lawsuit. Two of them are jumping ship for the County Council. One of them, Grace, is running for re-election.

If voters in Montgomery County are smart, we'll make sure Karla and Julie never make it to the County Council and that we dump Grace Rivera-Oven from the BOE this election cycle.

shebra evans, how u doin?

[Anonymous]

$1.5M could have fixed some of the immediate problems at several schools. Add the attorneys fees spent and MCPS wouldn’t need to close Wootton.

All of this because MCPS insisted that it had to be right - and in the end it was wrong.

[Anonymous]

Mcps has millions to give away each year?! Look back at the last 5 years, this is appalling.

[Anonymous]

Darn Muslim white supremacists!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Darn Muslim white supremacists!

Transphobe Ignorance Supremacists

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow. New year, another million!!! Where is the BOE?!

To be fair, the former BOE, and namely Lynne Harris, are the main reason why this happened in the first place. Lynne got pushed out as a result.

On the other hand, I'm not confident the current BOE would have made different decisions.

Whoever is responsible should pay back each county tax payer.

Karla, Brenda, Grace and Julie were part of the BOE that made the decisions that led to this lawsuit. Two of them are jumping ship for the County Council. One of them, Grace, is running for re-election.

If voters in Montgomery County are smart, we'll make sure Karla and Julie never make it to the County Council and that we dump Grace Rivera-Oven from the BOE this election cycle.

shebra evans, how u doin?

Better than them

[Anonymous]

Since the pandemic, how many millions has MCPS paid out in legal fees for issues of their own making?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Since the pandemic, how many millions has MCPS paid out in legal fees for issues of their own making?

Ugh. I know.