CBSD estimates legal bills for LGBTQ federal complaint costing up to $500K a month.

Central Bucks School District's investigation into a complaint it discriminated against LGBTQ+ students will likely cost $1 million.

And the district has already overspent by $1 million its budget for administrative services for the year, Chief of Operations Tara Houser told board members at a March 22 finance committee meeting.

District spokeswoman Angela Linch has not yet responded to an email seeking comment on the legal bills and a request to speak with Houser about her comments.

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The district had budgeted $2.4 million for the current school year for professional services including outside legal work, but, so far, it has spent $3.4 million, Houser told board members. Most of that increase is attributed to legal work by Duane Morris LLP, Houser said.

At this point the district is anticipating the line item overrun could top $1.5 million, Houser added. But the law firm made no commitment concerning the maximum fees and costs necessary to resolve or complete the matter, according to its letter of engagement.

Houser said that she is estimating the Duane Morris bills at $350,000 to $500,000 a month based on the only bill the law practice has submitted so far — a $114,000 tab for roughly 15 days of work in November. Houser said last week she expected the work would conclude with February billings.

Insurance should cover a portion of the Duane Morris bills, Houser said, but she did not specify how much will be the district’s responsibility.

The law firm's letter of engagement with the district said it bills clients monthly, but the district’s insurance carrier has requested the bills not be forwarded until the legal work is completed.

The district would be reimbursed for Duane Morris’ work at the same rate for a panel counsel, which is an attorney or law firm an insurance company chooses to represent policyholders in defending liability claims, Houser said.

Board member Karen Smith, who opposed hiring Duane Morris, said the meeting was the first time she had been told about the legal costs associated with the Duane Morris investigation.

At the finance board meeting, Houser did not reveal what the per-hour reimbursement rate is for panel attorneys.

Generally, under its policy, the district pays a $50,000 or $75,000 deductible directly to the attorney and afterward the bills flow through the insurance company, which calculates the district’s portion, Houser said.

In a 6-3 vote along party lines, the school board hired Duane Morris in November to conduct a separate investigation into the complaint the ACLU of Pennsylvania filed with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights.

The complaint was filed on behalf of seven students who allege district policies and practices have subjected LGTBQ+ students and their supporters to a hostile educational environment.

The OCR investigation is ongoing and no timeline for a report has been issued, according to Andy Hoover, spokesman for the ACLU of Pennsylvania.

But the board’s Republican-majority has faced criticism over the decision to conduct a separate investigation into the ACLU complaint and its choice of former Pennsylvania Republican governor candidate William McSwain as one of the lead investigators.

McSwain, a former U.S. Attorney and co-lead counsel, Michael Rinaldi, a former federal prosecutor, are charging the district $940 and $640 an hour respectively, a rate described as discounted, according to a Duane Morris Nov. 1 letter of engagement

McSwain is seen as a controversial figure. He once represented the Boy Scouts of America in an LGBTQ discrimination case and comments he made last year calling a sign posted at a West Chester Area school “leftist political indoctrination” in a since-deleted Facebook post.

In an October letter to the school community, school board President Dana Hunter wrote that McSwain and Rinaldi have decades of investigative experience and they are “well-suited to serve and advise the board as it works to ensure a safe learning environment for all the district’s children.”

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This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: CBSD expecting at least $1 million in legal bills for investigation