Michigan school board member sues board over alleged first amendment violations

A Michigan school board member is suing her own board for allegedly retaliating against her for revealing a tax increase plan to the public.

On Feb. 4, Carol Beth Litkouhi filed a lawsuit against the Rochester Community School District and five of her six fellow school board members.

Litkouhi alleges the district and school board tried to censor her free speech about possible millage increases using an illegally vague bylaw.

“I ran for this office because I care deeply about our community and our schools,” she said. “Silencing trustees only hurts the families we’re supposed to serve. I will always choose openness over secrecy, because the people who elected me deserve transparency from their officials.”

Indeed, when Litkouhi ran for school board in 2022, she told The Lion, “We need new board members who are willing to restore our district’s focus on academics, transparency, healthy communication with parents and accountability.”

The bylaw, which was passed in May 2024, instructs board members to “not share any document or information that has not already been shared by the District, including but not limited to confidential or privileged information.”

Its vague language, the lawsuit contends, “effectively silences board members from sharing with the public and their constituents anything that hasn’t been preapproved by the District.”

Last fall, five of Litkouhi’s six fellow board members voted to censure her and remove her from her committee assignments after she shared her opinion on a potential millage increase.

However, “the Board did not identify any confidential information that was revealed by Plaintiff,” the lawsuit says. “Rather, they relied on a recent, unconstitutional revision to their bylaws that forbids trustees to discuss information with the public, ‘not limited to confidential or privileged information.’”

With the help of the Mackinac Center Legal Foundation, Litkouhi is defending what she says is her legal right to share her opinion with her constituents.

“Elected officials do not surrender their First Amendment rights when they take office,” said Mackinac’s Senior Attorney Derk Wilcox. “Rochester’s policy attempts to silence Carol Beth and keep her constituents in the dark about decisions that directly affect them.”

On the contrary, elected public servants, including school board members, are forbidden from withholding information from the public.

While exceptions are made for national security and other such interests, “information on the subject of proposed millage is not one of those statutory exceptions,” the lawsuit says.

One week after Litkouhi filed her suit, Rochester School Board President Jessica Gupta, a defendant, announced her resignation.

In a letter released on Feb. 10, Gupta said she had “decided to refocus my time and energy differently. I will continue to support our district’s success from a different vantage point. I wish everyone involved in the district’s future the peace, discernment, and fortitude to move our schools forward positively for our students.”