Northampton Area School Board approves settlement payment to husband of a former school director

NORTHAMPTON, Pa. — Northampton Area School District has settled a First Amendment lawsuit with a former school director’s husband for $18,000.

The school board on Monday approved the settlement agreement between the district and Gerald Bretzik, regarding his claims that the district violated his right to free speech, among other constitutional rights.

Bretzik, 56, a disabled Gulf War marine veteran, property maintenance business owner and district parent, was seeking $1,971,000 in damages.

The district denies any wrongdoing in response to Bretzik's claims, according to a copy of the settlement agreement obtained by LehighValleyNews.com via a Right-to-Know request.

The two parties agreed to settle after a June 10 settlement meeting to avoid the “expense, disruption and uncertainty of litigation,” the document states.

Superintendent Joseph Kovalchik — who was a defendant in the suit alongside some school directors and district police officers — declined to comment on the settlement.

Settlement terms

The superintendent said the $18,000 will be paid by the district’s insurance. The settlement amount is payable to both Bretzik and his attorney.

The school district also agreed to remove language from its “public comment in board meetings” policy.

On Monday, the school board voted to update Policy 903 by removing language that let the board interrupt or terminate someone's public comments for “speech that traditionally has not been protected under the First Amendment.”

School Director Brian McCulloch spoke in support of Bretzik at Monday’s school board meeting and also chastised the school district’s past implementation of Policy 903.

“Under Policy 903, the Northampton Area School District granted itself the authority to shut down public comments using vague and subjective terms, labeling speech as abusive, irrelevant, otherwise inappropriate or generally not protected by the First Amendment simply because it was uncomfortable or critical,” McCulloch said.

“Let’s be clear, dissent is not disorder, criticism is not obstruction. [The] public comment period exists for the people — parents, taxpayers and residents to hold elected officials accountable.

“Policy 903 was used to do the opposite. It was used as a weapon to control the narrative, punish critics [and] chill free speech.”

McCulloch congratulated Bretzik and also called for district police officers to wear body cameras.

Jenny Roberts

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LehighValleyNews.com

2022 incident

Bretzik’s claims originated from a 2022 school board incident in which he was removed for allegedly being “disruptive” during his public comments.

He subsequently was banned from future board meetings that year.

At an April 2022 meeting when the board was discussing discrimination and sexual harassment policies, Bretzik spoke during public comment about the biological definition of a woman before he was interrupted by former school board President James Chuss, according to court filings.

Bretzik said he would see Chuss later, to which Chuss asked if the comment was a threat, according to the same legal complaint.

Bretzik then said he would follow the elected official “around with a microphone,” and Chuss called Bretzik “a real creeper.”

The two engaged in a back-and-forth argument before school police officers walked Bretzik out of the meeting.

The board subsequently voted to ban Bretzik from school board meetings for the rest of 2022. The school district’s police department charged Bretzik with disorderly conduct and harassment.

The disorderly conduct charge was dropped, and Bretzik pled no contest to the harassment charge, according to the legal complaint.

Bretzik did not respond to a request for comment for this report.

In April, Bretzik interviewed before the school board to fill a vacant seat created by the resignation of his wife, Kim Bretzik.

He was not selected.