Kentucky district settles federal lawsuit filed by Texas school choice advocate

The Pulaski County Schools board and a prominent school choice advocate have reached a settlement in a federal lawsuit.

Corey DeAngelis, a social media figure and author from Texas who calls himself a “school choice evangelist,” filed suit against Pulaski County Schools in January because the school district’s Facebook page blocked him on the social media site and deleted his comments from the page in August 2024.

DeAngelis alleged that the school district violated his First Amendment rights by censoring and otherwise restricting his online speech after he criticized the Pulaski County School District’s advocacy against Amendment 2, according to the settlement filed in U.S. District Court on July 2.

Amendment 2 was a 2024 ballot measure that would have allowed Kentucky to expand access to school choice programs throughout the state, the settlement said.

Kentucky voters overwhelmingly rejected the proposed constitutional amendment. The measure lost in all 120 counties.

.DeAngelis, as part of the settlement, was awarded $30,000 for what the litigation cost him.

The school district admitted no fault or liability, but recognized that a mistake may have been made with no intent to deprive anyone of their First Amendment rights.

“The district admits and recognizes that it blocked Mr. DeAngelis from its social media pages, and otherwise deleted and/or restricted his comments and the comments of others wishing to address the District’s advocacy on Amendment 2 — advocacy that was ultimately opined by Kentucky’s Attorney General to have violated state law,” the settlement document said.

School district communications staff will receive remedial open records, open meetings, and reasonable First Amendment educational training regarding their obligations and provide confirmation of the training to DeAngelis’ attorneys within the next 12 months.

Pulaski County Superintendent Patrick Richardson told the Herald-Leader in an e-mail Thursday that the case arose from a school media discussion of the proposed Amendment 2.

“Amendment 2 was a matter of urgent and great concern for the Pulaski Schools because of the probable effect on Pulaski County public schools and funding for students,” Richardson said.

The law regarding the balancing of the First Amendment and comments on school social media are continuing to evolve. said Richardson. He said in 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of Lindke v. Freed recognized, that among other things, public schools engage in state action when they operate social media pages.

Richardson said government officials, including school officials, can be held liable for violating the First Amendment when the official blocks an individual from the official’s social media page, deletes an individual’s comments from the page, or otherwise engages in content or viewpoint discrimination in connection with the maintenance of its social media pages.

“In view of the Lindke case, we entered into the Consent Decree, rather than spending education dollars defending the merits of our position,” Richardson said.

The Kentucky legislature recently passed legislation relating to social media use by school officials, volunteers and others when discussing matters with students. Only certain school authorized media may now be used in these exchanges, he said.

“The Pulaski County Schools will endeavor to follow the laws, to the best of our abilities, as the courts and legislators direct,” said Richardson.

One of DeAngelis’ attorneys, Steven J. Megerle of Newport, said Wednesday his client is satisfied with the settlement.

“His First Amendment rights were censored by the school district on social media, the 21st century public square.,” Megerle said. “We appreciate once the lawsuit was filed the school board came to the table to work out a quick resolution that became the consent decree.”

“I am hopeful this case shines light and the General Assembly will pass stronger legislation prohibiting all local governments from spending taxpayer resources on political matters on the ballot and using government controlled social media to lobby the public to vote one way or another,” said Megerle.

In an article for the conservative media site The Blaze, DeAngelis encouraged other advocates and parents to not be afraid to speak out.

“When you see a school district or any government entity overstepping its bounds, call it out,” he wrote. “The First Amendment is your shield, and cases like mine show that it still has teeth. Pulaski County Schools learned that lesson the hard way. Let’s make sure others don’t have to.”

This story was originally published July 10, 2025 at 5:00 AM.