The dispute between a retired Woden ISD principal who sued the school district in a debate over who owned a scholarship fund established 14 years ago in honor of his late son was finally resolved earlier this week.

According to the court settlement, former Woden Junior High School Principal Keith Lowery must return all the money he took out of the "Brian Keith Lowery Scholarship Fund" to a district account by Nov. 15 to be administered by a scholarship committee.

Lowery filed the lawsuit against the district in April after he withdrew more than $22,000 in funds from the account in February. Court documents filed by Lowery's attorney at that time argued that the scholarship funds were not an "irrevocable gift" and always belonged to Lowery, who established the fund in 1995 after his son died in a tractor accident.

In response, WISD filed a counterclaim against Lowery arguing that because the fund had been using the district's tax ID number that the withdrawn cash was district money.

Lowery's job as a principal was eliminated by the current WISD Superintendant Brent Hawkins, who was hired by the school board in April of 2008. There is now just one principal for both the high school and junior high campuses.

The settlement was signed by Keith Lowery, his attorney, and WISD board of trustees President Terre McLemore. Because both parties reached a compromise, neither the district nor Lowery admit liability in the suit, and both will be responsible for paying for their own legal assistance.

While remarks to the media regarding the case have been limited to clarifying the conditions of the settlement, Hawkins said that people looking to make donations into the fund can contact the administration office for details.

"I didn't personally know Brian Keith Lowery, but everyone I know who did said he was a fine young man and just really the epitome of what you'd want your kid to grow up to be like. He was definitely an inspiration to a lot of kids in this district, and his scholarship fund is going to benefit these kids for years to come," Hawkins told The Daily Sentinel. "I look forward to working with Mr. Lowery to do some benefits to build up this fund to further grow it for the future."