Kentucky mother banned from school property reaches settlement with district, ACLU says

Valarie Honeycutt Spears, Lexington Herald-Leader on Sep 17, 2026

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LEXINGTON, Ky. — The Jenkins Independent School District Board of Education reached a settlement with an Eastern Kentucky mother after she was banned from school property, according to the ACLU of Kentucky.

Elizabeth Jones, in a federal lawsuit, had challenged the board’s decision to ban her because of her social media posts, saying it violated her First Amendment rights, the news release said. As part of the settlement, the school board will pay $70,000 to Jones for damages and attorney fees.

Jenkins Independent school district officials did not immediately respond to an email from The Lexington Herald-Leader on Thursday.

Jones, a mother of two children in the district, was banned from school property and school events in December 2025 after school officials claimed some of her social media posts “appeared to be harassment.” The district did not accuse Jones of making threats or engaging in violence.

The ACLU of Kentucky’s lawsuit suit filed on Jones’ behalf argued that the district retaliated against Jones for constitutionally protected speech and violated her First Amendment rights.

Under the settlement, the parties Thursday jointly asked the U.S. District Court to convert its preliminary injunction ruling in Jones’ favor to a permanent injunction, according to the news release. The proposed motion was available in court records Thursday, however the final settlement was not.

“If granted, the injunction would permanently prevent the school district from banning Jones from school property for her past social media posts. Further, the Jenkins Independent School District Board of Education agreed to pay $70,000 for Jones’ damages and attorney fees. Jones has agreed to dismiss her remaining claims against Superintendent Damian Johnson and the individual school board members,” the news release said.

A federal judge in July ruled the Jenkins Independent School district couldn’t ban the Letcher County parent from school property and activities while the lawsuit she filed against the district was pending.

The judge granted a motion from the ACLU of Kentucky requesting a preliminary injunction, preventing Jenkins Independent School District from banning the parent from school property or from attending district activities.

“This settlement makes permanent what we have argued from the beginning: government officials cannot punish someone simply because they dislike or take offense at protected speech,” said Bethany Baxter, staff attorney for the ACLU of Kentucky. “Elizabeth should never have been forced to choose between exercising her First Amendment rights and being present for her children. This resolution protects her ability to do both and sends an important reminder that public officials remain bound by the Constitution, even when speech makes them uncomfortable.”

“I’m grateful that I can put this behind me and focus on what mattered most from the beginning: being there for my children,” Jones said. “School officials are not the social media police, and no parent should lose the ability to attend their children’s school-related activities simply because of non-threatening, routine online comments that school officials dislike.”

Jones regularly attended her children’s sporting events and school activities for years without causing disruptions or violating school rules. The social media posts later identified by the district included jokes, commentary, and photographs from sporting events that were open to the general public, said the news release.

The permanent injunction means the district can not reinstate or enforce the no trespass orders at the center of the lawsuit against Jones because of her posts that it deemed objectionable, the lawsuit said.

“This case was about more than one parent and one school district,” said Corey Shapiro, legal director for the ACLU of Kentucky. “The First Amendment protects speech precisely because government officials do not get to decide that only agreeable or popular speech deserves protection.”