CLERMONT COUNTY, Ohio (WXIX) – A Clermont County teacher is suing a school district after she was placed on an unpaid suspension due to four books sitting in her classroom that were deemed “controversial.”

Karen Cahall has been a teacher for New Richmond Exempted Village Schools since 1990. On Dec. 2, she filed a lawsuit in the U.S. Southern District Court of Ohio’s Western Division against the district she has served in for the past 34 years.

According to the lawsuit, a Monroe Elementary School parent, Kayla Shaw, emailed the school’s principal and every board of education member to report the presence of LGBTQ+-related books in Cahall’s classroom on Oct. 30.

Those four books were Ana On The Edge, The Fabulous Zed Watson, Hazel Bly and the Deep Blue Sea and Too Bright to See.

In November, New Richmond Exempted Village Schools Superintendent Tracey Miller began a disciplinary hearing against Cahall and suspended her for three days without pay.

The lawsuit says the suspension was issued for “simply having in her possession in her classroom four books that had LGBTQ+ characters in the plot line even though these particular books were intermingled among approximately one hundred other books” and “were not prominently displayed.”

None of the books were considered “obscene” or “offensive” as they do not have sexual content in them. The lawsuit described them as books about LGBTQ+ characters who are “coming to terms with feeling different.”

According to the lawsuit, Cahall did not teach from the books and did not require the students to read them. It goes on to say that the district’s board of education allegedly “engaged in content- and viewpoint-based discrimination in disciplining plaintiff Karen Cahall in their application of the Richmond Board Policy 2240…”

However, the teacher was previously told by Miller that the books were controversial, according to our media partners at the Cincinnati Enquirer.

A disciplinary letter obtained by the Enquirer says the books were “not acceptable,” especially after Cahall previously requested to place them in the library – a request that was denied.

Cahall filed the lawsuit on several claims for relief:

1. The New Richmond Board Policy 2240 is “unconstitutionally vague” and violates the Fourteenth Amendment.
2. Cahall sustained economic loss despite the policy violating the Fourteenth Amendment.
3. The Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment prohibits Miller from showing hostility toward any religion or religious group.
4. The Free Exercise Clause in the First Amendment prohibits Miller from using Board Policy 2240 to show hostility towards any religion or religious groups, including Cahall’s moral values.
5. Miller is accused of depriving Cahall of her constitutional rights, which are guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment.

New Richmond Board Policy 2240 – “Controversial Issues”

Section 2240 of the New Richmond Exempted Village School District’s policy was first adopted in 2009 and was last revised in 2021.

According to the policy, a controversial issue is “a topic on which opposing points of view have been promulgated by responsible opinion or likely to arouse both support and opposition in the community.”

The district will permit “controversial issues” to be taught during instruction if:

1. The content is related to “instructional goals” and students have a proper level of maturity
2. The content does not tend to “indoctrinate or persuade students” to follow a specific view point
3. The content encourages open-mindedness and is scholarly

However, the lawsuit argues that the policy is not only “vague” and “ambiguous,” but also that it does not state what a teacher is permitted to have in their classroom when it is not used for an “instructional program.”

FOX19 NOW has reached out to Cahall’s attorney, the school district and Miller for comment, but has not heard back. A request for Shaw’s email has also been submitted.

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