BANGOR (AP) – A social studies teacher who claimed that his First Amendment rights were violated when he was reprimanded for teaching about non-Christian civilizations has settled his federal lawsuit against his Aroostook County school district.

An attorney for School Administrative District 1 said its insurer decided it was less expensive to settle the case for $15,000 than to fight Gary Cole’s appeal to the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Cole, 61, of Washburn, sued the district nearly two years ago, claiming that after two years of teaching ancient and European history, he was prohibited from teaching Eastern civilizations shortly after a fundamentalist Christian confronted him at an open house in 1997.

He also alleged that the district, which includes Mapleton, Presque Isle, Castle Hill, Chapman and Westfield, failed to follow the Maine Learning Results, which recommend that seventh-graders study the history of the Eastern Hemisphere and Asia. After a four-day trial in August, a federal jury in Bangor agreed that Cole was subjected to retaliation but also found that the district had the authority to reprimand him.

No damages were awarded, and the judgment went in favor of SAD 1.

Cole’s lawyer, A.J. Greif, said that although Cole failed to get the curriculm changed, he achieved his goals of showing that he was a victim of retaliation and got a small monetary settlement.

Melissa Hewey, who represented the district, expressed confidence that her client would have prevailed on appeal and said the decision to pay a small amount in settlement was made strictly on economic grounds.

Greif said Cole was unable to change the curriculum because he was reassigned to teach eighth-grade U.S. history just before the trial began. That meant he lacked standing to seek changes in the seventh-grade curriculum.

Hewey denied that Cole’s reassignment was related to the lawsuit, noting that the district’s two middle schools merged and most staff members were reassigned.

—

Information from: Bangor Daily News, http://www.bangornews.com

AP-ES-12-15-05 0953EST