The Baltimore County Public Schools and its chief auditor have settled their court case in which Andrea Barr alleged school board members in May engineered her firing to punish her for not following their orders regarding an external audit.

Under the agreement obtained by WYPR under the Maryland Public Information Act, the school board will pay Barr $115,000 in non-economic damages and attorney’s fees. Barr also gets a new employment contract.

In exchange, Barr agreed to withdraw complaints she had filed with the Maryland State Board of Education and the Maryland Office of the Inspector General for Education.

In the agreement, board members admit to doing nothing wrong.

Eric Brousaides, an attorney for the school board, did not return requests for comment.

Kathleen Cahill, Barr’s attorney, declined to comment.

“At this time I am not at liberty to comment,” Cahill said.

Charles Herndon, a spokesman for the school system, also declined to comment.

“We’ll have nothing further to say on the matter,” Herndon said.

On May 17, the school board voted on renewing Barr’s annual contract. Six of the 11 members present voted to renew it. The remaining five either abstained or recused themselves. Traditionally, it has taken seven “yes” votes to approve a motion so Barr’s contract was terminated.

Barr filed a lawsuit. In July, Baltimore County Circuit Court Judge Sherrie Bailey entered a preliminary injunction ordering the board to allow Barr to keep her job while the litigation played out.

Only four of the five board members who did not vote to renew Barr’s contract signed the settlement agreement. The fifth, former board chair Kathleen Causey did not. In the settlement, Barr agrees to drop all claims and grievances against the four who signed, but not Causey.

In July, Barr testified in court that she received behind the scenes threats and intimidation from Causey and board member Russ Kuehn.

“They were asking me to do things unethical and improper,” Barr testified. “It always felt like my head was in a guillotine.”

Barr told the court that during a conference call in 2019, Kuehn screamed at her, saying her job was in jeopardy.

The dispute was over her working relationship with a firm, UHY, which was conducting an external audit of the school system. Barr was serving as a liaison between the board and the company.

Barr claimed Kuehn and Causey wanted her to put pressure on the external auditors not to include information about board members’ financial disclosure forms. She said she refused.

Kuehn did not respond to a request for comment. Causey said she could not comment because she has not read the settlement.

Former school board chair Julie Henn declined to comment, saying the agreement is confidential.

Of the five members who did not vote for Barr’s contract, only Henn and Kuehn remain on the board. Causey, as well as Lisa Mack and Lily Rowe did not run for reelection. Kuehn, who was appointed by Gov. Larry Hogan, will leave the board early next year once Governor-elect Wes Moore takes office in January and appoints his replacement.

The Baltimore County school board is a hybrid board. Seven members are elected. Four are appointed. The twelfth is a student member.