Without admitting any wrongdoing, the Person County Board of Education has agreed to an out-of-court settlement of a former elementary school principal’s civil rights discrimination lawsuit against the board and the superintendent of schools.

The board agreed to the settlement with former Stories Creek Elementary School principal Dr. Jennifer Locklear Thursday night, after meeting in closed session with legal counsel to discuss the matter.

Locklear, who served as Stories Creek principal from 2001 until 2004, filed a civil rights discrimination lawsuit against the school board and Schools Supt. Ronnie G. Bugnar last year, alleging sexual and racial discrimination.

The suit asked for compensatory damages in excess of $10,000; attorney fees and court costs; and punitive damages in excess of $10,000. >>

The terms of the out-of-court settlement agreement included the school system’s payment of $8,500 to Locklear.

"The settlement was made not because we felt we had a problem with the case," School board attorney Ann Estridge told The Courier-Times on Friday. "It was just because the school system's dollars could be more wisely spent on other matters."

Estridge noted that, with the exception of a First Amendment retaliation claim against the school board, the court had dismissed all of the claims in Locklear's lawsuit. The other claims in the lawsuit were dismissed in court on June 22, according to Estridge, after the school board "filed a motion to dismiss." The court's actions left only one claim outstanding.

"We felt we had a very defensible lawsuit," Estridge said. "The settlement was not because we felt we had anything that we needed to be worried about.

"The settlement was way less than the costs would have been to litigate the lawsuit," Estridge added. "It would have cost a lot more to go to court."

Bugnar said that the school board had to decide Thursday whether to settle the suit or to proceed to litigation.

"They made the decision to settle," Bugnar said.

The Courier-Times attempted to contact Locklear's attorney, R. Hayes Hofler of Durham, for comment Friday, however, he did not return a phone message left at his office.

Locklear claimed in her suit that she resigned her post as principal "under duress."

Locklear's suit stated that Bugnar, in a closed session board meeting, said Locklear received a two-year contract extension instead of four years because she inappropriately shared information with her staff at Stories Creek. Locklear claimed she was protected under the First Amendment in sharing the information.

The suit also alleged that Bugnar used a racial slur when referring to Locklear, a Native American, in a closed session meeting of the board and claimed discrimination on the basis of race and gender.

Among other things, Locklear's lawsuit also alleged negligence and infliction of emotional distress.

In it's motion to dismiss Locklear's lawsuit, the school system's attorneys claimed Locklear could not: "establish a prima facie case of race discrimination; maintain a claim against Bugnar for a violation of Title VII (Civil Rights Act of 1964) as Bugnar is not an 'employer' within the meaning of Title VII; maintain a claim for a violation of her First Amendment right to freedom of speech because her 'speech' was not constitutionally protected."

The school system's motion to dismiss also claimed that Locklear could not establish negligence or intentional or negligent infliction of emotional distress.