Case of metro Atlanta teacher fired for reading LGBTQ+ book on hold, again

A federal lawsuit challenging school district policies surrounding “divisive” concepts is on hold again. That leaves the question hanging of what support teachers can show to their LGBTQ+ students without fear of retaliation after a metro Atlanta teacher was fired for reading a picture book about gender identity.  

On Wednesday, U.S. District Court Judge Tiffany R. Johnson granted a request to pause a discrimination lawsuit filed against the Cobb County School District until a different court issues a final decision on the 2023 firing of Katie Rinderle, a former teacher at Due West Elementary.

Rinderle was fired for reading the picture book “My Shadow is Purple” to a group of fifth-grade students in March 2023. The book follows a child who does not see themselves as “blue” or “pink,” but “purple,” a mix of both. It “considers gender beyond the binary,” according to author Scott Stuart’s website, which markets the tale as one about inclusivity and acceptance. 

District officials determined Rinderle’s read-aloud had violated two policies, one surrounding the teaching of “sensitive topics” and another that guides instruction of supplementary materials. 

She received a termination letter in June, and as part of her fair dismissal process, had her case evaluated by a tribunal of three retired educators in August 2023. The tribunal found that Rinderle did violate some district policy, but ultimately recommended she not be fired. 

At the direction of Superintendent Chris Ragsdale, the Cobb County Board of Education voted 4-3 along party lines to fire her anyway, with the four Republicans handing her the pink slip and the three Democrats outnumbered in opposition.

Rinderle is the first teacher in Georgia to be fired for running afoul of classroom censorship policies enacted in the wake of the Georgia Legislature’s 2022 passage of the “Parents’ Bill of Rights,” the “Harmful to Minors Act,” and the “Protect Students First Act,” commonly called the “divisive concepts” law. 

The ongoing appeal of her firing only asks the court to reverse Rinderle’s termination and expunge her disciplinary record. 

But the federal lawsuit that was put on hold this week, in which Rinderle is one of five plaintiffs, challenges the constitutionality of the school district policies used to fire her. It raises broader questions about the effects of labeling LGBTQ-related topics as “controversial” by tying in the effects of ongoing book bans in Cobb schools.

“Schools should be welcoming, affirming places for all children. That’s the best environment for all children to learn,” Mike Tafelski, attorney with the Southern Poverty Law Center representing plaintiffs, told SaportaReport Friday.

The same summer Rinderle was fired, the district began removing books it deemed “sexually explicit” from school libraries. To date, 36 titles have been permanently banned, the most of any school district in the state. Several of the stories center on LGBTQ+ characters or themes. 

The first book nixed was “Flamer” by Mike Curato, a graphic novel chronicling a gay teen’s self-discovery at summer camp. The district was notified that “Flamer” was in libraries by the New York-based conservative blog Libs of TikTok, and promptly pulled the title from circulation. 

Ragsdale has stood firm in his defense of the bans, more than once equating the removals to a “battle between good and evil” and telling the public that pulling books is one way the district can prevent the “sexualization of children” from becoming “normalized.”

“We have a professional and moral obligation to protect students from vulgar, lewd, sexually explicit, obscene and pornographic material,” Ragsdale said at the January 2024 meeting of the school board. “I have said it before, and I am repeating it again: this is about good and evil.”

Tafelski said Ragsdale’s rhetoric around book removals, coupled with Rinderle’s firing, has fostered a widespread fear of retaliation among educators who want to show support for LGBTQ+ students. He said it also makes LGBTQ+ students afraid to come to school and unable to focus their attention on their studies. 

“When populations of students do not feel safe, do not feel affirmed, do not feel welcome in their schools, they have a lot of trepidation to even attend school, but when they’re there, it really can impact their ability to learn when they are feeling like Ragsdale has described them as ‘evil,'” Tafelski said, later adding that “the fear of retaliation is very real in Cobb.”

“I live in Cobb, I hear from educators, families, who, everywhere I go, are cheering Katie on, who are celebrating her courage, but are also terrified to vocalize that support publicly.” 

The district did not return a Friday request for comment by publishing time. Cobb County School Board member Randy Scamihorn, one of the four Republicans who voted to fire Rinderle, told SaportaReport Friday he could not directly comment on the case. 

“I have no comment other than I have faith in our judicial system, both state and federal,” Scamihorn said. 

The federal discrimination suit will likely remain on hold until 2026, as the Georgia Court of Appeals has until November to issue its ruling on Rinderle’s appeal to her termination. Whatever decision it makes is likely to be appealed to the Supreme Court of Georgia, which would have until July 2026 to issue the final ruling on her employment. 

In the meantime, Cobb County Association of Educators President Jeff Hubbard said teachers have become accustomed to living with the “chilling effect” of district policies. He said most teachers culled their classroom libraries years ago, when the policies went into effect, though they still have to be vigilant about what books are on their shelves. 

“The bigger key right now to the teachers, at least in Cobb County, is ‘is what we read going to be in violation of the policy, regardless of the topic. Is it ‘divisive?’ Is it ‘controversial?'” Hubbard said. “People are being much, much more careful about what they allow into their classrooms, in regard to what they talk about… People are just trying to do their jobs and not get into trouble.”

Hubbard said still, policy hasn’t stopped the teachers he represents from supporting their LGBTQ+ students. 

“Cobb teachers are still supporting their LGBTQ+ students… I know for a fact that there are students that know there are teachers that are safe that they can go talk to, that there are counselors that are safe that they can go talk to,” he said, adding: “I think our faculty’s reserve and concern and care for [LGBTQ+ students] is still the same as it was.”

CCAE is the local chapter of the Georgia Association of Educators, one of the five plaintiffs in the federal suit. Other plaintiffs include Rinderle, an anonymous transgender student in the district, the Georgia Youth Justice Coalition and Tonya Grimmke, another Cobb Schools teacher. 

Plaintiffs are hoping for a ruling that forces school districts across the Peach State to abandon the policies passed to align with state law, Tafelski said, even though the three classroom censorship statutes will remain on the books.

“We’re asking the court to find that the [school district’s] policies are unconstitutional… but it wouldn’t be a direct strike to the state law,” Tafelski said.  

If Johnson sides with the district, Cobb and all other public schools in Georgia would have the green light to continue enforcing classroom censorship policies as is. 

It’s a weighty question that could have ripple effects across the South, should the case go up to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. And the issue at the heart of the suit  — whether or not LGBTQ-related topics can be taught in public schools — is a fiery one being broached across the country. 

Johnson put the case on hold in March of this year to await rulings in two U.S. Supreme Court cases she deemed relevant. One, United States v. Skrmetti, upheld the ban on gender affirming care for minors in the state of Tennessee. In the other, Mahmoud v. Taylor, the court held that parents should be able to opt their children out of lessons centered around LGBTQ+ books or themes. 

The Biden-era Department of Justice, several publishing houses, and the attorneys general of 16 states and the District of Columbia have filed briefs in support of plaintiffs. 

In a March brief, attorneys for the 16 states and D.C. wrote that Cobb Schools was engaged in such “clear censorship of LGBTQ-related topics” that it “undermines any claim that it is motivated by a legitimate effort to accommodate parents and their concerns about limiting inappropriate sexual content in schools.”

Though Wednesday’s hearing was scheduled for oral arguments on the district’s two pending motions to dismiss the case, Johnson instead had attorneys argue why the case should or shouldn’t be held pending finality in Rinderle’s separate appeal. 

Bennett Bryan, attorney for the school district, said Rinderle should only get to make her case in one lawsuit — the appeal pending in state court. 

“You get one shot,” Bryan said in the Atlanta courtroom on Wednesday. “You raise your claims, lose… you can’t go run to another court and pretend that never happened.”

Craig Goodmark, lead attorney for the plaintiffs, said his team specifically reserved larger constitutional questions that affect plaintiffs beyond Rindele to be heard before a federal judge. 

Johnson, who was nominated to the federal bench by former President Joe Biden in 2024, agreed to pause the case. 

“I think there are some good reasons why both parties would want to know what [the appellate court’s ruling is on Rinderle’s termination],” Johnson said from the bench, adding: “It could work to both parties’ advantage.” 

Rinderle, who sat behind her attorneys through Wednesday’s proceedings, declined to comment.

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Annie Mayne is an Atlanta-based reporter with bylines in Cobb County and Boston. She is a graduate Boston University.