The Barbers Hill ISD Board of Trustees voted on Friday to approve a settlement in a lawsuit filed in May 2020 by former students De'Andre Arnold and Kaden Bradford. The students challenged the district's dress code, which the lawsuit said was discriminatory.
Under the settlement, the district agreed to pay a small amount, which was not disclosed, in exchange for the dropping of all claims. The district said the money will come from the Texas Association of School Boards' risk management fund, not from district tax dollars.
Superintendent Dr. Greg Poole called the arrangement "absolutely a victory." He said all legal charges were dropped and that the district's dress code remains unchanged. The district also said a federal judge recently rejected all claims in a similar lawsuit and upheld the constitutionality of the dress code.