Transgender Student Joins Fired Teacher's Lawsuit Against Cobb Schools

A transgender student in Cobb County Schools has joined a federal discrimination lawsuit against her school district.

The student — who is referred to by the pseudonym “A.A.” in court filings — became a plaintiff in the suit that was first filed in February by Katie Rinderle, the former Due West Elementary teacher who was fired in 2023 for reading a picture book about a nonbinary child to students. Other plaintiffs in the suit are another Cobb teacher and the Georgia Association of Educators.

The complaint was amended in May to add plaintiffs A.A. and the Georgia Youth Justice Coalition for Action, which, according to court filings, has 187 student members in Cobb Schools.

Rinderle was fired by Superintendent Chris Ragsdale and the school board in 2023 for reading “My Shadow is Purple,” to a group of fifth grade students. The book is described on Amazon as an “inspiring book about being true to yourself and moving beyond the gender binary ...”

On appeal, her termination was unanimously upheld by the Georgia Board of Education in February.

Rinderle has appealed the state school board’s decision to Cobb Superior Court.

According to Michael Tafelski, a lawyer with the Southern Poverty Law Center representing Rinderle in both the federal suit and her appeals case, that appeal is pending. He added that he expects oral arguments to begin by the end of the calendar year.

A.A.’s Experience

According to the suit, Rinderle purchased the book at a Scholastic Book Fair held at the school in February 2023 and read the book to a group of 15 students after nine of them voted to have “My Shadow is Purple” be the “community read-aloud” book.

Though court filings state A.A. was not one of those 15 students, she is a student in the school district, was a Due West student at the time of Rinderle’s firing and was in Rinderle’s class in second and fourth grade, when she socially transitioned from being a male-presenting student to identifying as female.

“Since second grade, Rinderle has been a major source of emotional support and advocacy for A.A. and her family as A.A. navigated the process of socially transitioning at school,” the amended complaint reads.

According to the filing, while A.A. was facing “hurtful and isolating” reactions to her transition from peers, Rinderle granted her access to the staff bathroom, allowed A.A. to spend recess inside her classroom and provided immense emotional support, even after A.A. was no longer a student of Rinderle’s.

“A.A. was confused and upset when she learned of Rinderle’s removal and feared having to attend school without Rinderle’s ability to provide emotional support,” the amended complaint reads.

The suit argues that after the state legislature passed the Protecting Students First Act (commonly called the divisive concepts law) and the Parents Bill of Rights in 2022, the Cobb School District enacted “vague censorship policies” and failed to define terms like “controversial” and “divisive,” leading not only to Rinderle’s firing but a domino effect of discrimination.

The suit states that district policies and personnel statements inflict “stress, terror and heartbreak.” The suit listed the district’s banning of books — many of them focused on LGBTQ+ characters and themes — which Ragsdale has called a “battle between good and evil” — as one example.

An expanded scope

According to Tafelski, the amended complaint expands the scope of the lawsuit by suing Ragsdale, the school board’s four Republican members and Chris Dowd, the district’s executive director for employee relations, not just in their official capacities, but as individuals.

The board’s three Democratic members, who all voted against Rinderle’s termination, are only being sued in their official capacities.

Republican Board Chairman Randy Scamihorn told the Marietta Daily Journal Friday that he could not offer a comment on pending litigation, which John Floresta, chief strategy and accountability officer for the district, echoed in a Friday text to the Journal.

“Although we can’t talk about ongoing lawsuits... Our parents expect us to prepare their children, academically, and our Board and Superintendent unapologetically hold us to the Georgia standards,” Floresta wrote.

Floresta directed anyone curious about how the board defines “what students need to know and be able to do” to visit the strategic plan page on the district’s website.

In a Friday phone call with the MDJ, Tafelski and Harry Chiu, another lawyer representing the plaintiffs, told the MDJ the district is required to respond to the complaint or file a motion to dismiss the case by July 29. The plaintiff’s legal team will then have two weeks to issue its response.

Tafelski stated because of the way the plaintiffs have filed suit, it is possible that this case will head to a jury trial.

He added that this suit is the first federal challenge to Georgia’s divisive concepts law and Parent Bill of Rights, and that there is a chance this case will make its way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

“If it goes up on appeal, the path is to go to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals,” he said. “And then, potentially, yes it could go up to the U.S. Supreme Court.”