Norwin board member sues superintendent, district over criticism of social media post

A Norwin School Board member is suing the district and its superintendent, claiming his First Amendment right to free speech was violated.

Alex Detschelt of North Huntingdon claims Superintendent Jeffrey Taylor violated his rights Oct. 28, according to the suit filed in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh.

Taylor criticized Detschelt’s post of a meme Oct. 25 on the Norwin Area Talk Facebook page. In the post, Detschelt used a derisive term for mentally disabled people and a sexually explicit word to describe then-Lt. Gov. John Fetterman.

A few days later, in response to the post, Taylor issued a news release and an emailed statement to about 7,700 Norwin community members, stating the district did not condone Detschelt’s use of the words “that offended many people in the community.”

Detschelt alleges in the suit that Taylor’s actions and public criticisms were retaliatory and caused “reputational harm.”

Detschelt said he posted the meme and subsequent comments on private social media pages and not as a representative of the school board. He claims Taylor’s actions caused him “severe emotional distress, mental anguish, embarrassment and humiliation” and is seeking a jury trial.

He is seeking compensatory and punitive damages.

Taylor called the allegations in the lawsuit “wholly without merit.”

“I was disappointed to learn of the filing of the lawsuit because it is just one more inflammatory and unnecessary distraction from that which has always been my primary focus, which is providing leadership to the district and improving the educational opportunities for the district’s students,” Taylor said.

Regarding his response to Detschelt’s political meme, Taylor said, “I will never apologize or back down from defending the dignity of the district’s students with disabilities, and I look forward to being vindicated.”

Detschelt declined to comment on the details in the lawsuit, but said he filed it to “send a message to school officials that pursuant to the First Amendment, they cannot retaliate against an elected official who … expresses his or her own political views that may be contrary to those who wish to retaliate.”

He defended his posting of the meme as protected political speech in which he was acting as an individual and not in his capacity as a school board member.

Detschelt said he removed the post when informed by a person with a child who has been called the name used in the meme.

Detschelt was criticized publicly for his actions by several people at a Nov. 7 school board meeting. Before facing his critics, Detschelt left the board table at the front of the room and retreated to the rear of the school auditorium. He did not respond to a request to apologize, saying that no one can force speech upon another person.

At that meeting, Detschelt was censured by the board in a 5-4 vote. He voted against the censure and was supported by three political allies — Christine Baverso, Shawna Ilagan and Robert Wayman. Wayman defended Detschelt’s right to express himself politically, but said the wording was not what he would have used.

This is the second lawsuit that Detschelt, a conservative Republican, has filed this year against the district or fellow board members.

Detschelt, along with Baverso, Ilagan and Wayman, has a case pending in Westmoreland County Court in which they sued Directors Darlene Ciocca, William Essay and Raymond Kocak for not including their remarks critical of Taylor in their 2022 evaluation of his performance. The board’s minority faction claims Taylor’s evaluation was fraudulent without their input.