PITTSBURGH — The Mt. Lebanon School District will not appeal a court ruling that said parent rights were violated when a first-grade teacher read two books with transgender characters and did not give parents the chance to opt their children out of the lesson, a new court filing shows.

In all, the district of almost 5,500 students elected to not appeal the Sept. 30 decision and agreed to pay $350,000 in legal fees to three mothers — Carmilla Tatel, Stacy Dunn and Gretchen Melton — who filed a lawsuit in federal court in Pittsburgh more than two years ago.

Attorneys representing Mt. Lebanon did not respond to an email seeking comment. An attorney for the plaintiffs declined to comment.

The lawsuit stemmed from a March 31, 2022, lesson in which Jefferson Elementary School teacher Megan Williams read "When Aidan Became a Brother" by Kyle Lukoff, a book that follows a character named Aidan who realizes he is a transgender boy, and "Introducing Teddy, a Gentle Story About Gender and Friendship" by Jessica Walton, a book that focuses on the transgender transition of one character and the support the person receives from a friend.

The books were read to celebrate Transgender Awareness Day.

But despite the district sending opt-out letters to parents for events such as an assembly involving a therapy dog, different movies and conversations around religious holidays, it was not communicated that the books would be read during class, the judge's opinion says.

Instead, Williams the day prior sent a text to two other teachers saying, "Tomorrow is international trans day of visibility. I'd like to read something." During the exchange the two books were discussed and Williams asked, "Do you think it's good to read aloud in first?" One teacher responded, "Now I may be pulled into the principal's office ... but that's okay with me."

The next day Williams read "When Aidan Became A Brother." But according to a classroom aide, the book caused confusion among students, with one child saying, "I don't get it." Another student responded, "Oh, I get it — she was a he," which was confirmed by Williams, the opinion says.

Afterward several students asked, "Who decides this?" Williams responded, "Your parents do." She then called for an unscheduled recess. On the way out, Williams told the aide, "I hope you were okay with that lesson," to which the aide responded, "It doesn't matter what I think — it matters what they think and what their parents think."

That afternoon, Williams continued the conversation by reading "Introducing Teddy, a Gentle Story About Gender and Friendship" followed by a nearly 10 minute discussion during which she allegedly said, "Parents make a guess about their children's — when children are born, parents make a guess whether they're a boy or a girl. Sometimes parents are wrong," another classroom aide cited in the opinion said.

By June, the three parents filed the lawsuit alleging misconduct by the teacher. They said the lesson led to conversations with their children at home regarding gender identity and how someone knows whether they're a boy or a girl. Afterward, one parent involved in the suit asked that her child be removed from Williams' classroom. Six complaints were received in all.

On Sept. 30, U.S. District Judge Joy Flowers Conti sided with the mothers, writing in her opinion, "Absent a compelling governmental interest, parents have a constitutional right to reasonable and realistic advance notice and the ability to opt their elementary-age children out of noncurricular instruction on transgender topics and to not have requirements for notice and opting out for those topics that are more stringent than those for other sensitive topics."

In a filing Wednesday, plaintiffs in the case agreed to accept the $350,000 "as a full accord and satisfaction of any claims."

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