District 113 board OKs settlement with teacher over handling of 2023 post about Israel-Gaza

Township High School District 113 Board of Education approved a settlement on Tuesday with a teacher who sued the board in 2024 for violating her First Amendment rights and falsely insinuating she was antisemitic after she posted an Instagram story about the Israel-Hamas War.

The exact terms of the settlement were not immediately made public.

Karen Warner, D113’s chief of communications, said that with the litigation recently finalized, D113 lawyers must review the settlement agreement before it can be shared.

The D113 Board of Education voted 6-1 to approve the settlement and unanimously to approve a “notice to remedy for a tenured licensed staff member,” a disciplinary measure taken against the D113 teacher, Britnee Kenyon. Details of the discipline also were not immediately made public.

The Record filed a request under the Freedom of Information Act for both the settlement agreement and notice to remedy after the board of education meeting completed.

The three-hour meeting Tuesday, Sept. 30, drew approximately 120 members of the public to the cafeteria of Highland Park High School, where 27 individuals participated in public comment.

Many spoke in favor of Kenyon and the settlement, holding up signs that said “Stop Targeting Teachers,” while others argued that Kenyon’s social media post was anti-Israel and was professionally inappropriate.

Those against the settlement also urged D113 board members to step down, instead of using district funds to settle the lawsuit.

Kenyon, who is Jewish, said in court documents she was harassed online after then-D113 School Board President Daniel Struck distributed a letter in December 2023 condemning a social media post concerning the Israel-Hamas war Kenyon had reposted days earlier on her personal Instagram.

The Record filed a public records request for the social media that led to then-D113 Human Resources Officer Thomas Krieger informing Kenyon on Dec. 14, 2023 she needed to attend a pre-disciplinary meeting.

That public records request returned three screenshots of Dec. 9, 2023, stories from Kenyon’s personal Instagram account. The stories appear to be reposts of quotes by Ibram X. Kendi, the author of “How to Be an Anti-Racist,” concerning the ongoing conflict in Israel and Gaza.

“What the Israeli military is doing in Gaza is not only a crime against humanity. It is a crime against history. What is humanity without history? What is history without memory? What is is memory without the writer?” an excerpt of one Kendi quote said.

“Perhaps that is why antiracist Jews are joining with Palestinians and the rest of world to oppose all this carnage from October 7 in Israel to what has happened ever since in Gaza and the West Bank. Jews have experienced the horror of Holocaust, and the double horror right now of people inexplicably denying all that they have suffered,” an excerpt of another Kendi quote on Kenyon’s Instagram said.

Kenyon filed a civil complaint in federal court in October 2024 seeking monetary damages from the D113 Board of Education, Struck and former D113 Human Resources Officer Thomas Krieger. The complaint also sought damages from a Deerfield resident who posted online about Kenyon.

Kenyon’s lawsuit stated she was harassed, targeted and made subject to a “pretextual investigation” from D113 solely because she exercised her First Amendment rights. The lawsuit stated Struck defamed Kenyon, falsely insinuated she was antisemitic and harmed her professional reputation.

Struck also, according to the suit, invaded Kenyon’s privacy by portraying her in a false light and intentionally inflicted emotional distress by publishing accusations without verifying their truth, all while the ensuing wave of  “community harassment was the foreseeable result.”

Following the vote, the D113 Board of Education released a statement: “Nothing in this agreement constitutes an admission of wrongdoing by the district.”

D113 board members Anne Neumann, Jaime Barraza, Jody Elliott-Schrimmer, Rick Heineman, Jenny Lupa and Greg Nieder voted in favor of the settlement. Board member Alexander Brunk voted against it.

‘It was unfair and it should be over’

Neumann, the board’s president, addressed the settlement at the start of the meeting, but the board otherwise held no public discussion on the topic before calling the vote.

“In evaluating legal matters, the board considers student, staff, taxpayer impact, staff time, counsel’s advice, insurance contributions and legal fees in determining whether to settle or continue litigation,” Neumann said. “What is not considered are actions and information unrelated to the facts of the case.”

Amy Stolarsky, a Deerfield High School parent who was the first to speak during the meeting’s public comment session, requested the board resolve the settlement so Kenyon can focus on her students.

“She is a valuable and inspiring educator and has suffered enough as a result of the district’s mistakes,” Stolarsky said of Kenyon. “She did not threaten students. She expressed an unpopular opinion and rather than address that disagreement civilly, some people created a public witch hunt. It was wrong, it was unfair, and it should be over.” 

Billie Baer, a Deerfield High School student involved with the theater program Kenyon oversees, also spoke in favor of the educator.

Kenyon’s lawsuit stated she took a temporary mental health leave of absence from teaching after she received the online harassment.

“Losing Britnee for months threatened our experience as both students and actors,” Baer said. “People questioned whether to pursue acting in high school out of fear of being bullied, and the example set by the School Board and people online fully showed us that even our teachers are not exempt.”

‘Just the tip of the iceberg’

After Kenyon met with D113 administrators in December 2023 about the Instagram story, Krieger informer her she needed to attend a second pre-disciplinary meeting to discuss complaints the district received regarding Kenyon’s use of the social media app Snapchat, court records show. 

The subsequent scrutiny into Kenyon’s social media led to Krieger issuing her a written reprimand that described a report alleging she was “communicating with students on Snapchat about inappropriate topics such as birth control,” district lawyers wrote. 

The report also said her Instagram violated D113 policies because certain content, such as her smoking a cigarette, was visible to students, district lawyers wrote. The reprimand did not include “any specific finding,” and Kenyon’s lawyers said she never initiated contact with students via Snapchat. 

Daniel Schwartz — president and cofounder of the Chicago Jewish Alliance, a nonprofit that posted online about the board meeting and accused the district of a “cover-up of teacher misconduct” — referenced concerns about Kenyon’s social media while calling on the board to reject the settlement.

“I’m here tonight for the children and students who cannot speak up out of fear of being ostracized. A teacher can be loved and still cross the line,” Schwartz said on Tuesday. “Letting minors follow her on social media where political propaganda is mixed with (inappropriate) material is not mentorship.”

“This isn’t about personal disagreements or politics, it’s about boundaries,” Schwartz added. “Standards don’t only exist for the children who speak up, they exist to protect the children who feel pressure to stay silent.”

Shana Ryback, a Deerfield High School parent, said Kenyon lacks an understanding of what the role of a teacher entails and that she’s aware of students who left Kenyon’s class because the teacher made them so uncomfortable.

Ryback, in tears, asked what message the board sends by “paying her off.”

“This situation she finds herself in is one of her own making. She’s violated district policies, proven time and again to be irresponsible, and she has harmed students,” Ryback said. “The Instagram post that started this is just the tip of the iceberg of a pattern of inappropriate behavior that extends into the classroom.”

Resolution but not an ending

Nearly two years after the 24-hour Instagram post sparked divisions in the D113 community and drew wider attention reflective of national fault lines over the Israel-Hamas War, the board’s decision to approve a settlement with Kenyon lent an official resolution between the two parties.

But it was clear on Tuesday, with at least four security guards watching over the D113 Board of Education meeting, that tensions in the room still remained.

Kenyon’s remaining lawsuit against a Deerfield resident claims that person used the alias “Michelle Leah” to defame Kenyon, invade her privacy and intentionally interfere with her D113 contract by publishing four Facebook posts that “disseminated patently false and disparaging statements.”

That social media account was actively posting online against Kenyon and the board’s decision as of Wednesday, Oct. 1.

Settlement discussions between lawyers for Kenyon and the resident are ongoing, court records show.

The Record is a nonprofit, nonpartisan community newsroom that relies on reader support to fuel its independent local journalism.

Become a member of The Record to fund responsible news coverage for your community.

Already a member? You can make a tax-deductible donation at any time.