TRAVERSE CITY – Nearly 21 months of litigation could end.
The trustees of the Traverse City Area Public Schools Board of Education will discuss the terms of a settlement with Traverse City Record-Eagle regarding the newspaper’s lawsuit against the district. The board members will meet in closed session on Monday and then discuss the matter in an open session, said board chairman Scott Newman-Bale.
Newman-Bale said he was hoping for a written agreement to close, although he expects some minor procedural steps to follow.
“We’re nearing the end where we can probably complete as much as we can,” said Newman-Bale. “We worked pretty hard and we will see.”
The Record-Eagle filed a civil lawsuit against TCAPS in January 2020, alleging that TCAPS and former CEO Sue Kelly violated state transparency laws during the events surrounding Ann Cardon’s resignation as superintendent in October 2019.
The Record Eagle alleged that TCAPS committed “willful and willful” violations of open assembly and freedom of information laws in order to hide the reasons for Cardon’s resignation and that several board decisions were unlawfully taken outside of an open session. The lawsuit also alleges that FOIA requests were either inappropriately denied or delayed to prevent information about Cardon’s resignation from being released.
Much of the lawsuit was settled in May when the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled that TCAPS must publish a six-page letter of complaint, authored and lobbyed by Kelly [does he mean lobbed? I don’t think lobbied is the right word] against Cardon. The decision stated that the district had inappropriately maneuvered to protect the document from disclosure by attaching it to the minutes of the closed meeting and claiming it was protected by OMA.
The decision set a binding precedent for the state and closed a potential loophole in Michigan’s transparency laws.
“As problematic as the process has been, I believe it will result in positive, long-term change that will benefit the county,” said Newman-Bale. “I’m sure we’re all looking forward to that.”
Newman-Bale made very similar statements just a week after Cardon’s resignation at the first meeting of TCAPS Transparency, a group that sought to advance reform in the TCAPS board of directors and in the district.
“Now we have the momentum to change something,” Newman-Bale said in late October 2019. “As painful as this process will be, hopefully in three to five years this will be the best thing that has happened to us – and we will do it like that. We are already turning the page to bring it back together. “
Newman-Bale was close to his estimate. The matter could be closed in a little less than two years since the controversial departure of the three-month superintendent. Now the district can focus on strategic planning for the future and work on the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on the education system, Newman-Bale said.
“We’ll clear the slate, draw a line, and move forward,” he said. “Hopefully the public will appreciate the work that has gone into it.”
Many in the public, including Justin Van Rheenen, appreciate that TCAPS takes responsibility for its actions.
“It’s definitely a win,” said Van Rheenen, co-founder of TCAPS Transparency.
The first win, Van Rheenen said, came in November 2020 when voters swapped three seats on the TCAPS board, displacing trustees many believed had some responsibility for Cardon’s resignation. Van Rheenen said the lawsuit would likely still be ongoing if that hadn’t happened.
“Settlements are not always an admission of guilt, but when TCAPS takes responsibility – which I believe is expected of them – it will make a big difference in this community,” he said.
The TCAPS Board will meet at 6:00 p.m. Monday in the TCAPS Administration Building at 412 Webster Street.
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