Arizona’s attorney general filed a lawsuit against a Scottsdale-area school board whose former board president had access to a dossier that tracked information on outspoken parents, according to a press release.
Attorney General Mark Brnovich’s lawsuit claims that the Scottsdale Unified School District (SUSD), specifically former board president Jann-Michael Greenburg, violated the district’s Open Meeting Law by knowingly cutting off community feedback, according to a press release. The litigation seeks to have Greenburg removed from the board and impose civil penalties on the entire school board.
“SUSD manipulated public input and silenced the voices of parents in order to advance its own agenda,” Brnovich said. “This type of bad school behavior demands expulsion.”
The board violated Open Meeting Laws by “knowingly structuring an agenda and meeting so as to prohibit public comment about a proposed mask mandate and other subjects within the jurisdiction of the SUSD Governing Board, knowingly applying unauthorized content-based restrictions on public comment made during a board meeting, and knowingly cutting off or otherwise interrupting speakers during a call to the public,” the press release alleged.
Today, our office filed a lawsuit seeking to remove Jann-Michael Greenburg from the Scottsdale Unified School Board.
Parents should never be silenced regarding the education of their children. https://t.co/iIrJPn2kBm
— Mark Brnovich (@GeneralBrnovich) June 20, 2022
Greenburg drew the ire of parents and the Attorney General’s office after the Daily Caller uncovered that Greenburg had editing access to a Google Drive that included personal pictures and information on a slew of outspoken parents. The dossier, allegedly created by Greenburg’s father, included parents’ social security numbers, a divorce proceeding, and financial records.
Folders housed within the dossier are labeled “SUSD Wackos,” “Press Conference Psychos” and “Anti Mask Lunatics.” (RELATED: Scottsdale School Board Member Publicized Parents’ Social Security Numbers, Divorce Proceedings, Financial Records In Effort To Track Outspoken Parents)
Brnovich previously called on the federal Department of Justice to open an investigation into the SUSD school board. The board voted 4-1 in favor of removing Greenburg after learning of his alleged role in the dossier.
A spokeswoman for SUSD told the Daily Caller that it received notice from the Attorney General’s office in November 2021 and responded in December 2021. The district claims it had “not received any information regarding the complaint until it learned that a lawsuit had been initiated.”
The district maintains that it did not violate Open Meeting Laws.
The school board’s president and Greenburg did not respond to the Daily Caller’s request for comment.