Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.We were surprised at the crocodile tears shed at a recent school board meeting about the district’s likeliness of being sued because the board approved prayer before board meetings. Three-two vote.
Some nay-sayers during the public comment period warned about getting the district into litigation that would drain dollars, time and energy from the mission of GPS: educating children.
Blake Sacha spoke against opening with an invocation, saying, “We… need all the prayer we can get…what we don’t need is more controversy and adoption of this resolution will certainly create more controversy.”
NOW they’re talking about keeping the district safe and not inviting or instigating a lawsuit against GPS <snark>. For a different perspective, let’s look at the board president who met the issue head-on. As a citizen and parent in GPS, she had been attacked with legal action filed against her by the GOBs and attorney Denise Lowell-Britt:
Burk addressed the issue of possible litigation, saying “I ran for this office … because of the disregard for the law that I had seen. If we’re talking about lawsuits and staying on the absolute safe zone, I don’t think that we’ve been doing that for quite some time.”
Disregard for the law! Westie has some experiences to share about how little regard GPS has had when litigation is looming. First of all, state law requires submission of a Notice of Claim by someone who is contemplating suing the district.
A.R.S. 12-821.01. Authorization of claim against public entity or public employee
A. Persons who have claims against a public entity or a public employee shall file claims with the person or persons authorized to accept service for the public entity or public employee as set forth in the Arizona rules of civil procedure within one hundred eighty days after the cause of action accrues. The claim shall contain facts sufficient to permit the public entity or public employee to understand the basis on which liability is claimed. The claim shall also contain a specific amount for which the claim can be settled and the facts supporting that amount.
Here’s how it works when GPS received a Notice of Claim, as described by a former board member:
I knew NOTHING about this case other than what district admins told us. We were advised by district admins and legal counsel to not go through the packet [Notice of Claim].
As lawsuits proceed, lawyers representing GPS have been known to make every effort to avoid giving information to board members. The problem is that the board has to ratify any settlement, should there be one. As our court systems operate now, few cases actually go to trial. Lawyers paid by the Arizona Schools Risk Retention Trust have a perverse incentive to cruise down the litigation highway: the longer the ride, the more money in their pockets.
We’ve written about a case where GPS lost the trial, then tried to sue the parents for legal fees. Did the board direct the attorneys to do that? It certainly led to pubic revulsion … well, more public revulsion. The public was already disgusted by the spectacle of a special needs child having both of her legs broken because district officials failed to revise the student’s IEP after the first time her leg was broken.
Parents filed a certified notice of claim to the district, asking for $1 million in damages. The district and the Arizona Schools Risk Retention Trust that represents schools in legal and insurance issues never responded to the claim, effectively rejecting it. What followed next was a series of insults by GPS and the Arizona Schools Risk Retention Trust:
The district’s attorneys offered a deal to the Grays: $1,000. The couple declined. The offer increased to $25,000 and finally to $45,000. Brad Gray said the money would not have covered the family’s legal and medical expenses. A jury awarded $215,612 in medical and compensatory damages.
These two incidents show how things are done in GPS: bring out a machine gun to swat a fly. While Good Old Clyde was president of the Trust, it was a cudgel. Clyde didn’t like ANYONE who disagreed with him. If someone actually took the time to file a Notice of Claim, he went into battle mode. The results have been predictable: claims that could have been settled immediately stretched out into litigation lasting several years.
Westie has wondered for so long …. whatever happened to common sense in Gilbert Public Schools during Dave Allison’s superintendency? State law requires someone with a potential claim to tell GPS all about it. The intent of this law was to encourage early settlement of differences while they were just differences. What GPS did in the past is turn a blind eye. And aim the big guns. When all you have is a hammer, every thing looks like a nail. Good Old Clyde pulled out a sledgehammer and a bag of insults and litigation ensued. Fortunately, the Internet has changed the battlefield. Now David has a little more chance against Goliath. If not this David, the next David, or the next, or the next. Sharing information. Sharing strength.
We’ll have a lot more information to share in coming posts. Most often when we request public records, we get stiff-armed, even by Dr. Keegan, the object of Keyboard’s affections. Once in a while, we get access to public records. We’re getting a glimpse into some new and unexpected issues, and we’re astounded. And dismayed. If the information we manage to liberate in the future is as bad as what we got in the most recent batch, the stuff GPS is hiding is gruesome. The GOBs have done more damage than we could have imagined. It’s going to take a mighty effort to turn things around.
To turn things around, make Westie Interim Superintendent! When Westie is superintendent for 85 days, we will end the travesty that takes huge amounts of money out of the schools, only to be deposited in the pockets of lawyers. Those lawyers know the pot is there every year, and they’re out to make sure they get as much as they can for themselves. Once tax dollars go into The Trust, they might as well be in a black hole insofar as accountability is concerned. BTW: ASRRT demands more and more each year, because GPS spends so much each year. Talk about the Lawyers’ Perpetual Employment Club!
Chirp, chirp!