RCS Board of Ed member sues district over alleged violation of free speech

ROCHESTER/ROCHESTER HILLS/OAKLAND TOWNSHIP — A Rochester Community Schools Board of Education trustee has filed a lawsuit against the district challenging a bylaw that restricts what trustees can say publicly.

The lawsuit, filed Feb. 3 in 52-3 District Court, alleges Trustee Carol Beth Litkouhi was punished for speaking publicly after she wrote an op-ed for The Detroit News in October raising concerns about the tax implications of a proposed countywide school “enhancement” millage.

After the editorial was published, the RCS Board of Education voted 5-2 to censure Litkouhi in November, arguing that she disclosed confidential information publicly in violation of board bylaw 1001.

Current Board President Jessica Gupta, Vice President Jayson Blake, and trustees Michelle Bueltel and Barb Anness supported the censure.

“As a school board trustee, there is a clear responsibility to keep certain information confidential until it is ready for public consideration. Trustee Litkouhi knew this and chose to disregard it. By doing so, she placed her personal position above this board’s ability to engage in a fair and transparent process and undermined trust in our superintendent, our district, and this governing body as a whole,” Anness said during the meeting. “Freedom of speech isn’t freedom from the consequences of that speech.”

Trustee Shelley Lauzon and Litkouhi dissented.

“Punishing her for speaking openly is wrong,” Lauzon said during the meeting. “It sends a terrible message that trustees can be punished for voicing opinions or for being transparent with the communities we serve. This is not leadership. This is intimidation.”

The board censure also removed Litkouhi from all committees for a year, but she retains her voting rights.

While publicly reading the resolution of censure during the Nov. 10 board meeting, Gupta said Litkouhi “referenced confidential information shared by the superintendent that had not been approved for release” in her op-ed. The resolution further stated Litkouhi’s opinion piece was presented publicly “in a manner that was incomplete, misleading, and harmful to the reputation of the district and its leadership,” in violation of bylaw 1001. Board bylaw 1001 states that “board members will take no private action that might compromise the board or administration, and will not share any document or information that has not already been shared by the district, including, but not limited to, confidential or privileged information.”

The lawsuit, brought on behalf of Litkouhi by the Mackinac Center Legal Foundation, argues the information Litkouhi shared was not confidential, as several school districts had already discussed the countywide proposal publicly. However, the board didn’t identify what confidential information Litkouhi shared, according to the lawsuit.

“Just because someone asks you not to talk about public information, that does not make the information confidential,” Litkouhi said during the Nov. 10 Board of Education meeting.

She said the superintendent encouraged trustees to support the enhancement millage while withholding information from the public.

Litkouhi said elected officials have a constitutional right to speak openly with the people they represent, noting that they also must be free to discuss matters of public concern.

“I ran for this office because I care deeply about our community and our schools,” Litkouhi said in a statement. “Silencing trustees only hurts the families we’re supposed to serve. I will always choose openness over secrecy, because the people who elected me deserve transparency from their officials.”

She said the board bylaw restricts her First Amendment right to free speech.

The Mackinac Center lawsuit argues that if the bylaw is allowed to stand, it could establish a precedent that school boards and other public bodies can forbid elected members from discussing public matters with the people they represent.

“Elected officials do not surrender their First Amendment rights when they take office,” Derk Wilcox, senior attorney at the Mackinac Center Legal Foundation, said in a statement. “Rochester’s policy attempts to silence Carol Beth and keep her constituents in the dark about decisions that directly affect them.”

Litkouhi also sued the district in 2022 over access to curriculum for a “History of Gender and Ethnic Studies” class and lost.

Lori Grein, executive director for strategic communications for the district, confirmed the district is aware that a complaint was filed in court following the censure.

“At this juncture, it is premature to discuss potential litigation,” Grein said in a statement.