(The Center Square) – Federal court approval has been given in a free speech case involving a North Carolina school board and a student no longer in the respective district.

Christian McGhee, then 16 and a student at Central Davidson High School in Lexington, and his parents Leah and Chad, sued the Davidson County School District Board of Education last spring. On April 9, 2024, a classroom discussion in which the teacher used the word “aliens” prompted Christian McGhee to raise a hand and ask if she was referring to “space aliens, or illegal aliens who need green cards?”

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The settlement mandates the board offer a public apology; clears McGhee’s school record of racial bias marks; and provide the McGhee family $20,000 from its insurer. The three-day suspension remains on his record with the board citing a class disruption.

Approval was gained Tuesday in a hearing before Judge Thomas David Schroeder of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina. Terms were learned a month ago subject to judicial approval.

All parties, per the settlement, agreed to not have any discussions or communications with media outlets about settlement negotiations or terms. The language is specific to nonconfidential terms being released publicly, and prohibition of disclosing “the negotiations of the settlement or the confidential amount and/or terms of this agreement” except for legal, tax, investment or financial planning purposes.

Lawyers for the Liberty Justice Center, representing he and his family, said the question by Christian prompted “a boy in his class, of Hispanic heritage, jokingly said ‘Hey, I’m going to kick your …'” and used an expletive. They say both boys are friends, the class continued, and afterward the teacher approached administration not about use of words but the appearance of a threat.

Then came the explosions. Assistant Principal Eric Anderson, in a recording, equated the phrase “illegal alien” to “the n-word,” and said the teacher “struggled” in the situation because of “being so young and female.”

After the incident, Leah McGhee was a target on social media from board member Ashley Carroll; she called out Carroll and board Chairman Alan Beck for “slander” of her name; and 14 candidates ran for three open seats on the school board last fall.

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Beck didn’t run for reelection. Carroll, facing charges of driving under the influence in a car crash causing injuries, has since resigned from the board. Ironically enough, the crash was a year to the date – April 9 – of the question in the classroom.

Cranfill Sumner represented the school board and Anderson. Dean McGee, educational freedom attorney at the Liberty Justice Center, represented the McGhee family.