Attorneys Question Fairfax County School Board Members About E-Mails

UPDATE:  Attorneys for Jill Hill, the resident who is suing FCPS and the Fairfax County School Board for alleged violations of FOIA law, called board member Elizabeth Bradsher as their first witness in court this morning, before Judge Leslie Alden.

Bradsher and other board members sat outside of court room #5A from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m., waiting to be called. Wearing a peach sweater and dark brown slacks, Bradsher took the stand for an hour and 20 minutes. Attorney T. Michael Guiffre, the plaintiff's attorney, walked her through e-mails she sent to other board members last summer, prior to a vote to close The Clifton School.

After a short recess, board member Martina Hone, who had tried to delay the closing of the school, was called to testify. After about 30 minutes, the judge called for a lunch break.

Attorneys for both sides are arguing about what constitutes a meeting: Are e-mails the same as live chats? How many people constitute a meeting?

The attorney for FCPS said the lawsuit brought by Hill is an attempt to undo the vote to close the school.

"This newest legal theory is based on a blunderbuss of assertions that the school system violated the Virginia Freedom of Information Act, and that certain School Board members supposedly communicated with each other improperly, in real time, during the public meetings involving Clifton," they noted in a "verified answer" filed with the court.

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Officials of the Fairfax County Public Schools and members of the school board will be in Fairfax Circuit Court Wednesday at a trial to determine whether they violated Virginia’s open meetings or Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) laws during meetings that include those where board members discussed the closure of Clifton Elementary School.

Their appearance in court is the result of a lawsuit brought by Fairfax County resident Jill D. Hill, who is being represented by T. Michael Guiffre, an attorney with Patton Boggs in Washington, D.C. Guiffre has not returned Patch’s calls for comment.

Thomas J. Cawley, who is representing Fairfax County Public Schools and the board and is a partner at Hunton & Williams in McLean, said, "It's up to the petitioner to present her evidence.” In addition to Cawley, the legal team defending the FCPS will include Stuart Raphael, a partner at the firm, and Sona Rewari, also a partner.

Patton Boggs issued subpoenas for the school officials and the entire board.

At a pre-trial hearing on Friday, attorneys for the school officials and board told the judge that the Wednesday trial was inconvenient for all 12 school board members to attend.

Cawley and his team argued that it was excessive for the entire board to be made to appear in court, since most of them hold full-time jobs.

The plaintiff's attorney argued that people who serve on juries must appear in court to do their duty and that it was up to the board members to show why it would be considered harassment to come to the courtroom for the trial.

The judge compromised, and said that instead of all 12 members of the school board appearing, that only six would have to appear. The petitioner got to choose which six board members should appear, Cawley said.

The revised list of Fairfax County Public School officials and board members who will appear at the trial on Wednesday are:

• Pam Goddard, executive assistant and clerk to the board
• Sara Kolb, management technician, Communications Dept., Fairfax County Public Schools

• Paul Regnier, media coordinator, Fairfax County Public Schools
• Dean Tistadt, chief operating officer, Fairfax County Public Schools

School Board members who will appear are:

• Liz Bradsher
• Martina Hone
• Jim Raney
• Patricia S. Reed
• Kathy Smith, chairman of the school board
• Judith Wilson

Those who will NOT appear are:

• Brad Center, vice chairman
• Sandra S. Evans
• Stuart D. Gibson
• Ilryong Moon
• Daniel G. Storck
• Jane K. Strauss 

At the pre-trial hearing on Friday, lawyers for the Fairfax County Public Schools told the judge that all documents requested through FOIA have been handed over, except for those that feature information regarding confidential HR or student information. The judge was to determine this week whether those e-mails are exempt.

Patch will be at the trial tomorrow, so look for the latest information late Wednesday.