Judge orders CBSD and ACLU to resolve "gag order" against middle school teacher or he will.

The Central Bucks School District has been ordered to turn over the transcript of an interview its attorneys did with a middle school teacher as part of an estimated $1 million internal investigation into anti-LGBTQ student discrimination claims.

Senior U.S. District Judge Timothy Savage on Monday also encouraged attorneys on both sides to work out a de facto gag order allegedly preventing teacher Andrew Burgess from speaking out against allege "false accusations" made against him in an April 20 public presentation before the school board.

Savage scheduled a May 17 hearing on the matter if the parties do not reach an agreement, said ACLU of Pennsylvania Legal Director Witold Walczak, who represents Burgess.

On Monday the ACLU filed a petition in the U.S. District Court of Eastern Pennsylvania asking the court to intervene with an order preventing Burgess from discussing the investigation allegations that was part of a district letter he received follow an undisclosed April 21 change in his employment status.

Walczak has declined to say what action was taken against Burgess citing the letter which the ACLU also believes applies to his attorneys.

District spokeswoman Angela Linch did not responded to an email Monday morning seeking comment on the court filing. District solicitor Jeffrey Garton said he is not involved in the Burgess matter.

Burgess also sought a copy of the 204-page transcript of his Jan. 12 interview with Duane Morris attorneys as part of the internal investigation involving alleged anti-LGBTQ environment allegations against the district. The district posted roughly 84 pages of the Burgess interview on its website, and Walczak said the district had refused to provide his client the full transcript. .

Burgess, who is suing the district for retaliation, and his attorneys allege the district has warned it would take additional discipline including termination if he talks about the findings in its 151-page report which contends that Burgess manipulated LGBTQ+ students as part of an alleged campaign to force the school board to retract policies he disagreed with.

CBSD teacher says he can't give his side Central Bucks teacher, his lawyers ordered not to talk about $1M internal investigation

The ACLU contends the district “publicly vilified” their client, then threatened him, if he spoke out about “issues that go to the heart of his lawsuit: The district’s handling of LGBTQ+ related issues and its ongoing retaliation against Burgess for his advocacy on behalf of LGBTQ+ students.”

“The First Amendment does not tolerate such a prior restraint on Burgess’s speech. He must be permitted immediately to address and respond to — both in and out of court — CBSD’s retaliatory conduct and allegations against him to set the record straight and allow the public to accurately judge the actions of CBSD,” the petition said.

In the filing, Burgess said he wants to respond to the allegations contained in the Duane Morris report, as well as the alleged retaliatory acts the district continues to take against him.

“This will allow the public to accurately evaluate the actions of CBSD, and its handling of LGBTQ+ issues,” the petition said.

The ACLU also alleges the gag order restrains its ability to advance their client’s case because it prevents them from amending the retaliation lawsuit to include “additional relevant information without risking Mr. Burgess’ employment.”

More on the $1M CBSD internal probe Central Bucks investigation into alleged LGBTQ student discrimination is out. What it says

The district maintains that Burgess, a social studies teacher and teacher union vice president, was suspended with pay for three months last year for allegedly failing to report bullying allegations to administrators and interfering with district efforts to review the appropriateness of “certain” books in classroom libraries.

His suspension last May resulted in four days of student protests at Lenape Middle School where Burgess worked for 14 years. Burgess, a vocal LGBTQ+ student advocate, and his supporters believe the suspension was related to his filing a discrimination complaint with the Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights on behalf of a transgender student who alleged unaddressed bullying.

In his interview with Duane Morris, Burgess stated that he told a transgender student that he planned to file the bullying allegations as student behavior reports, but the student did not want them reported to administration because he feared retaliation.

The CBSD reporting system does not accept anonymous reports, but the Office of Civil Rights does, Burgess said. He claimed the student and his mother decided to file the federal complaint, which was closed without investigation.

In his lawsuit filed last month, Burgess alleges the district has retaliated against him including an involuntary transfer to Unami Middle School a week before the start of the school year where he was assigned a new grade and a larger class size than other teachers.

The Duane Morris report concluded that there is no evidence the district has created a "hostile environment" for LGBTQ+ students and that its administration has quickly and appropriately handled the "few" complaints involving student harassment and bullying.

Duane Morris alleged in its report that evidence showed Burgess manipulated LGTBQ students into not reporting bullying allegations to administration, as part of a conspiracy to derail efforts of a new Republican-majority school board that took office last year.

The district has been embroiled in controversy over the last 18 months over allegations it discriminates against the LGBTQ+ student community and other marginalized groups.   Board majority members and their supporters have denied they are anti-LGBTQ and blamed the discord in the community on misinformation spread by community “activists.”

This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Central Bucks teacher wants 'gag order' lifted in LGBTQ investigation