Patron sues JC Schools over Sunshine Law, open meetings, First Amendment - Jefferson City News Tribune
Jefferson City resident Curtis Thompson has filed a lawsuit against the Jefferson City School District, Superintendent Larry Linthacum and School Board President Ken Enloe.
The petition document alleges multiple violations of the Missouri Sunshine Law and open meetings law by the district.
Thompson's petition said the issue began when Linthacum published a letter regarding diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, prompting Thompson to request information from the district on such efforts. The petition said Thompson "was concerned that the District was misleading the public about its curriculum."
Thompson has been a vocal public opponent of Critical Race Theory in JC Schools at board meetings and in email communications with the district.
CRT is an academic framework that regards racism as "systemic," meaning it goes beyond the scope of individual biases and is part of the legal framework and American society.
In March 2021, according to previous News Tribune reporting, Thompson asked the district to remove the website learningforjustice.org from its curriculum, saying it included articles about Black Lives Matter, CRT and other philosophies he viewed as inappropriate.
Since then, the petition says, Thompson has made many subsequent Sunshine requests for information about school curriculum, which the lawsuit argues were inadequately answered, as well as attempts to speak before the board about curriculum.
The district said it has answered the requests.
A statement by the Jefferson City School District said, "For close to two years the district has invested a great number of hours working diligently to respond to Mr. Thompson's frequent sunshine law requests. District administrators have had numerous face to face meetings and phone calls with Mr. Thompson in an attempt to comply with the various requests, and to address the complaints and concerns he has expressed."
According to previous News Tribune reporting, Thompson spoke before the board in August 2021 about the minutes of a previous meeting, which he said were wrong. Enloe asked him to speak on a new business or consent agenda item because the meeting minutes had already been approved. Thompson was escorted off stage by a police officer after Enloe called for a recess and Thompson did not leave the stage.
Enloe declined to comment for this story.
"The lawsuit is not really about CRT, it's really about the Sunshine Law and the First Amendment and the relationship between the citizen and the state," Thompson's attorney Daniel Rhoads said. Regardless of someone's views on CRT, Rhoads said they should be allowed to speak their mind.
Thompson's ejection from the meeting is listed in the lawsuit as a "violation of the first amendment." The lawsuit also cites violations of open meetings law, violations of the Sunshine Law and conspiracy.
"The issues under the Sunshine Law and the First Amendment are vital issues, and I think he feels that those values were not being respected in this case," Rhoads said, adding Thompson felt targeted and felt there could be a chilling effect.
The district said in its statement that many of Thompson's past claims about the district are inaccurate, including the district is teaching CRT and staff training included tenets of CRT. It also said Thompson had suggested he would take legal action several times.
"Countless resources have been expended responding to Mr. Thompson's complaints and concerns, as well as combating the inaccurate claims being spread by him. More resources will now be expended responding to his lawsuit," the Jefferson City School District's statement said.
source: https://www.newstribune.com/news/2022/mar/26/patron-sues-jc-schools-over-sunshine-law-open/
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