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Campus School evidence contradicts testimony


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Campus School evidence contradicts testimony | RCS, Education, Schools, Campus School, Court, Rutherford County, Murfreesboro, Chontel Bridgeman, Robert Corlew, James Evans, Tracy Pack, Harry Gill

(File photo)

During Chancery Court Wednesday, Rutherford County’s Board of Education attempted to withhold public records despite a court order to produce them, and e-mails between Campus School Principal Chontel Bridgeman and the board surfaced, which contradict officials’ prior sworn testimony.

County Attorney Jim Cope’s office, on behalf of the Rutherford County School Board and Bridgeman, sought to withhold from the court all requested copies of files from her work computer.

Chancellor Robert Corlew III ruled in January that the requested public records be submitted to the court for review and then released to former Campus School parent Tracy Pack once appropriate fees for their reproduction were paid.

He outlined a nine-step process for the board to follow in producing the records.

The ruling came after multiple requests and legal action by Pack, who requested public documents concerning his son and Bridgeman.

Wednesday’s court proceeding is another in a long line of motions that Pack has filed in order to compel the board to produce public records under court order.

Some of the documents, such as e-mails between Bridgeman and the Board of Education, have finally been produced, and their contents directly contradict testimony given by School Board Attorney Angel McCloud and Spokesman James Evans in earlier proceedings on the matter.

In explaining why files concerning Pack’s son were never produced, McCloud testified under oath on Jan. 25 in Chancery Court that no such files ever existed. Evans also testified McCloud had told him no such files existed.

However, the board later produced an e-mail dated Jan. 14 between Bridgeman and McCloud, which includes a 45-kilobyte file attachment bearing the name of Pack’s son.

In the e-mail, Bridgeman demands to be present when any documents are retrieved from her office by the board, but the Tennessee Public Records Act provides for no such authority or provision.

“I feel as if I have absolutely no control when things are not done in my presence,” she wrote, and demanded to “see everything that will be provided to Pack and his lawyer before it is handed over to them.”

Theodore W. Goodman, Pack’s attorney in the case, provided this evidence to the court, saying that the “board has time and again proven that they cannot be trusted to produce public records in good faith.”

County Attorney Jeremy Cothern declined to address this issue in his response to Goodman, but continued to state Bridgeman’s school-issued laptop had been stolen and could not be produced.

“This is not a conspiracy against Dr. Pack,” Cothern said. “The Board of Education is not twisting their collective evil mustaches.”

He also attempted to persuade Corlew that the board had newfound authority since his previous ruling to withhold files located on Bridgeman’s work computer due to a statute passed by the Tennessee General Assembly, which took effect in February.

In his response to Cothern’s argument, Goodman noted that applying laws retrospectively is specifically forbidden by the Tennessee Constitution and cited relevant case law in Nutt v. Champion International Inc., which provided judicial precedent.

“Quite honestly, I don’t think they (county attorneys) are even reading my motions,” Goodman said. “Because if they did, they would know that their arguments are blatantly irrelevant and even unconstitutional.”

The board’s argument went nowhere with Corlew, who ruled in favor of Pack’s motion and against the board. He went even further, ordering the board to follow a procedure suggested by Goodman for assuring proper production of the public records.

Corlew will now choose a computer expert to analyze the hard drive from Bridgeman’s work computer, at Pack’s expense, and “advise and consult” on the procedure of reproducing the contents and recovering any deleted records.

Pack agreed to pay a $1,000 deposit to the court, and an April 25 hearing has been scheduled for the matter.

Editor's note: The bolded section was added for clarity.

 
 
 
Tagged under  Campus School, Chontel Bridgeman, Court, Education, Harry Gill, James Evans, Murfreesboro, RCS, Robert Corlew, Rutherford County, Schools, Tracy Pack


Member Opinions:
By: Denver2012 on 4/1/12
Sounds like to me the school board,Evans,and everybody involve with this on the school board side is trying to hide something that they don't want the citizens of Rutherford County to know about or see. If that is correct, must be something pretty damaging.

By: CasualObserver on 4/2/12
To the Casual Observer it seems the proverbial "smoking gun" has been found... They had the file on January 14th, but on January 25 wrote the parent and said "no such file exists." Sounds like perjury and willfully witholding public documents to me. My guess is there will be those who come on here and say this is a "vendetta" or has gone on too long, but the reason above is exactly why it MUST continue.

The whole issue of the stolen/lost laptop has never been resolved. RCS ignored the judges order to investigate, and no one has been held accountable. I wonder what is on it that the Principal is scared of???

By: MTBoro on 4/2/12
Now is there any doubt as to why Dr. Pack has tried to get the information he has every legal right to obtain? The Rutherford County School Board has attempted to hide the information and force him to spend so much money that he will give up. Hopefully the district attorney will take a look at the illegal activity and the lies that have been told in court proceedings.

By: bulldog3 on 4/2/12
Each of the individuals who knowingly provided inaccurate information to the court should be dismissed from their positions - along with Ms. Bridgeman. We teach our children that they should tell the truth; we should show them that there are consequences when you lie, especially in sworn testimony.

By: bulldog3 on 4/2/12
Well Ms. McCloud certainly has egg on her face. It certainly makes one wonder if anyone is exerting any managerial control over our schools. It seems that the principals are functioning independently. I hope that our elected board takes note and selects a strong executive to get control of the situation.

By: MTBoro on 4/2/12
As Howard Baker once asked in Watergate: "what did they know and when did they know it? " I believe the documents and testimony make it perfectly clear. Something tells me more lies will be revealed as this plays out.

By: needanewpatch on 4/4/12
One wonders if the evidence of “Inconvenient Truth” brought forth in court last Wednesday is making “Sense” to “Team Truthful,” or has it just caused more “Sensibility” issues for them.

With all the utterance of questionable incompatible statements made by those on the side of the Rutherford County Board of Education in this matter, it makes this concerned taxpaying parent doubt the integrity of this particular division of our county government. Obviously, honesty and “The Epitome of Professionalism” are characteristics certainly lacking with some who reside in high positions of this county’s Board of Education. These people are in control of what our children are learning.

For three years I have observed, questions asked which should have easily been answered by those at the school board, but instead here we are, waaaaayyy on down the road and these questions are still being avoided. Why is that?

Hey .net you must be a gypsy fortune teller. This thing about:
“Something About to Hit The Fan.”
Let’s be scientific and call it SCAT
You may just be right. You know what they say about spitting into the wind…

I totally agree with bulldog3 about everything, but if Ms. McCloud continues to stand too close to that Fan, she may have something more difficult to clean off her shoes than the egg on her face. Everyone knows when one dances around to evade questions, sooner or later they are going to step in it, slip and face plant dead center of it.

Veritas Nocet !

“Oh, by the way - The bolded sections were added as clarifications.”

By: needanewpatch on 4/4/12
Bolded sections above:
“Inconvenient Truth”
“Sense”
“Team Truthful”
“Sensibility”
“The Epitome of Professionalism”
“Something About to Hit The Fan”
Veritas Nocet!

By: CasualObserver on 4/4/12
The casual observer has gone back and reviewed several of the posts on the .net site, and it is actually quite humorous at how WRONG they were about EVERYTHING. So, it begs the question "Where are they now?" I guess they have seen the light that their "leader" is not what she seems... Perhaps they have all jumped ship? Nah, not the one on the payroll, she is going to milk the government teet for every penny. What a waste of taxpayer dollars. And speaking of waste of tax dollars, who will be held accountable when the bill for this fiasco gets sent to RCS? IMHO, the ones who caused the mess should be terminated, and have to pay the bill. Perhaps that is why Evans threw McCloud under the bus with the "clarification" above?

By: MTBoro on 4/4/12
I wonder if the two other computers that the principal has used will be mysteriously stolen or lost before the county has a chance to make copies of the hard drives for the court. It would not surprise me if there is not a "break-in" at Campus in the next few days and the security cameras will have a "malfunction." Surely they are not this blatantly corrupt or are they after what has been presented in court. Obviously our leaders in the school system central office cannot be trusted if they are willing to not speak the truth. I sure hope these people are not retained by the new director.

By: orthovol on 4/7/12
Where are those few Rutherford County School employees and a couple of former PTC leaders now? Aren't they going to use this article to try to ridicule me some more or have they finally seen enough proof to run for cover? They thought better than to continue discussing the file about my son because they were implicating themselves in a crime. All I have ever attempted to do is find the truth and expose it for all citizens and more specifically parents and teachers of school children to see. Unfortunately the school system and their attorneys have made this process too lengthy, too expensive and most importantly, too dishonest. Thanks for the support of everyone who has the patience to follow this unfolding story. It has not been easy to continue taking the ridicule and defamatory comments from those I seek the information.

By: vintagemom on 4/10/12
Dr Pack,
There are still many of us out there who are watching and waiting for this situation to be exposed and very much appreciate all that you have done.
We admire all you have endured, just to find the truth....THANK YOU!

By: Just.me on 4/13/12
After talking to several parents still at Campus School, I can tell you that they consistently point out how much it's changed, how it's lost everything that made it special, and how the principal has developed a "clique" with just a couple of girls and alienates everyone else. Campus parents are ticked off about the GG.net site and feel the person that developed it lacks class and is a disgrace to the school. It is NOT how they want to be represented and do not agree with what was written. They are even more upset with the fact that the creator of GG.net's son (after withdrawing him to home-school) was let back in after Christmas without having to be put back on the waiting list. I guess the loud mouthed realtor is part of the "clique", therefore she and Dr. Bridgeman can just make up the rules as they see fit. Does everyone see the pattern here? It's such a shame what has happened to Campus School and I back what Dr. Pack is doing 100%. I am anxiously awaiting for Dr. Bridgeman, LAB (gg.net),and JH, to be exposed for who they really are - LIARS! Of course many of us already knew that.

By: MTBoro on 4/17/12
So LAB = GG.net? .... very interesting;.... makes sense since the PTC presidents were given total access by Bridgeman in all matters. Probably = Muchadoaboutnothing also because the files obtained about a former student would not be available to anyone other than Bridgeman and her chosen few. Hopefully this will be exposed for all to see in due time.


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