Valencia College

settles a lawsuit over vaginal-probe ultrasound training that students performed on one another in the school’s sonography program.

Valencia College has settled a lawsuit over vaginal-probe ultrasound training that students performed on one another in the school’s sonography program.

The settlement includes a payment of $225,000 Valencia says its insurance company made to the plaintiffs, three former students. The parties to the case were still signing the final agreement Thursday. The settlement includes an agreement that the students won’t return to the campus.

“Valencia College’s insurance carrier has made the business decision to avoid any further costs of protracted litigation and has agreed with plaintiffs to fully resolve this matter,” a statement from the college said.

The statement said no liability or wrongdoing was established or admitted on the part of Valencia College or its faculty. The lawsuit alleged violations of students’ First Amendment rights to free speech if they spoke against school policies, and of their Fourth Amendment rights against improper search by a government agent.

“We stand behind the integrity of our diagnostic medical sonography program and its track record of excellence in educating sonographers and preparing them for employment in this highly specialized and vital career field,” Valencia’s statement said.

The school suspended student-on-student classroom probes in 2014, after lawyers first contacted the school with complaints, and discontinued it permanently in May 2015. Students get that experience now in a clinical setting at a hospital or other medical facility.

Three female students filed the federal lawsuit in 2015 in Orlando, alleging that medical diagnostic students at the college were forced to undergo weekly vaginal ultrasound probes as part of learning the procedure, or faced retaliation if they complained about it.

Valencia had maintained all along that the use of volunteers — including fellow students —