Former Norman Public Schools teacher Summer Boismier filed a lawsuit against former State Superintendent Ryan Walters and the Oklahoma Board of Education on Friday, alleging state education officials violated her First Amendment rights by revoking her teacher’s license.
According to the legal complaint, Boismier is claiming state education officials discriminated against her because she held different beliefs, and they “conspired to deprive her” of her constitutional and civil rights. Boismier told OU Daily Monday that this case is important for all teachers, students and Oklahomans.
“We can continue taking the steps necessary to ensure every Oklahoman and every American has the right and the freedom to speak, regardless of what a public official or elected or otherwise thinks,” Bosmier said.
In August 2022, Boismier covered the bookshelves in her Norman High School classroom with red butcher paper and wrote the phrase “books the state doesn’t want you to read” across them. She hung a QR code that linked to the Brooklyn Public Library’s Books Unbanned catalog, which promotes free access to banned books.
The demonstration followed NPS guidelines instructing educators to review the books in their classroom for House Bill 1775 violations. The state identified books in her classroom that broke the law, including “Gender Queer” and “Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You.”
HB 1775 is an Oklahoma law that restricts what schools can teach about race and gender. It prohibits teaching that one is superior to another, that some people are inherently oppressive and that they bear guilt for the deeds of others of the same race or sex, according to the bill.
“My intention was to communicate to my students, the young people who were in front of me in that classroom, that they matter,” Boismier said. “Every single one of them, every single one of their identities, matters and is important, regardless of what the law or some politician elected or otherwise has to say.”
Following parent complaints, Bosmier resigned in 2022. Her teacher’s license was later revoked in September 2024.
A NPS spokesperson declined to comment because the lawsuit is ongoing.
OU Daily contacted the Oklahoma State Department of Education but did not hear back by the time of publication.
In an April post on the social platform X, Walters maintained that the board’s actions preserved integrity and parental rights in education by keeping left-leaning political ideas out of the classroom.
“We have sent a clear message that Oklahoma’s schools will remain free from political indoctrination and that our children deserve an education that is focused on core academic values, not the promotion of controversial ideologies,” Walters wrote.
Walters resigned as superintendent in September and now heads the Teacher Freedom Alliance, a nonprofit that acts as an alternative to teachers’ unions.
Aside from Walters, the defendants in the lawsuit include six former education board members: Sarah Lepak, Zachary Archer, Donald Burdick, Katie Quebedeaux and Kendra Wesson.
The lawsuit centers on Boismier’s speech outside of the classroom, Iris Halpern, Boismier’s attorney, told the Daily Monday. Speech inside the classroom is subject to stricter rules because public educators work for the government, Halpern said.
Halpern works for Rathod Mohamedbai, a Colorado law firm that has represented clients in censorship and discrimination cases across multiple states in recent years.
Halpern said the state’s actions against Boismier have been politically motivated, and Walters and the board exploited their power to target gender and racial minorities. According to Halpern, HB 1775 is broad and vague about which books are approved and which aren’t, giving teachers no warning about what’s a violation.
“It's about students rights and the community's rights to get access to information, ideas and stories, and it's about eradicating discrimination from our public institutions,” Halpern said.
Halpern estimated the case will go to trial in two or three years. A parallel case appealing Boismier’s license revocation is ongoing.
Boismier said she’s currently looking for jobs, but has “100% certainty” that she will have an Oklahoma teacher’s license and will teach in the state again.
“This is about the freedom to think, this is about the freedom to read, to stand and to be,” Boismier said. “I think that benefits every Oklahoman. And really, I mean, even beyond our state borders, every American as well. This is the foundation of what this country is … what we say this country is built upon.”
This story was edited by Thomas Pablo and Natalie Armour. Sophie Hemker and Gretchen Schultz copy edited this story.
