This article appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer today. Devon charter school sues parents By Martha Woodall Inquirer Staff Writer Several parents at the Agora Cyber Charter School in Devon who asked questions about the school's finances have been sued by the founder and her management company. Dorothy June Brown contends that the parents and the Agora Parent Organization defamed her and Cynwyd Group L.L.C. in complaints sent to the state Department of Education and in e-mails circulated to other parents at the statewide cyber school. The parents say they were just trying to get answers about the relationship between Cynwyd Group and Agora. The cyber school rents its headquarters from Cynwyd under a nine-year lease and pays the firm a management fee of at least 4 percent, according to a services agreement. Brown owns Cynwyd and serves as its senior consultant to Agora, according to school and state records. The civil suit Brown filed in Montgomery County Court on Jan. 21 alleges that the parents made misleading statements "that give the clear but false impression that Dr. Brown is corrupt, incompetent and possibly criminal." The suit also says the parents' association "sought to interfere with Cynwyd's contractual relationship with Agora by spreading untruths about Dr. Brown and by implying that she had improperly used public funds." Brown and Cynwyd are seeking more than $150,000 in damages for libel, slander and civil conspiracy. "The allegations are false," Gladys Stefany of Milton, Pike County, said in an e-mail yesterday. She said she learned about the suit last Tuesday when she was served with papers. 'Civil conspiracy' "When did asking for information that is or should be public information become 'civil conspiracy?' " asked Stefany, who has a 15-year-old daughter enrolled in Agora and is president of the parents' organization. "It is sad that it has come to this, but I'm happy we'll finally have the opportunity to air our case in the open and get answers to our questions." Stefany said the questions did not involve the school's academic program. She said she was more than satisfied with the instruction her special-needs daughter has received. News of the suit left several lawyers and education officials scratching their heads. "I haven't heard of a case of this sort in recent memory," Len Reiser, co-director of the Education Law Center in Center City, said yesterday. Lawyers from the Pennsylvania School Boards Association agreed. SLAPP suit? Angelique Smith of Aston and her husband, Ira, are among the six parents named in the complaint. She said she believed the case amounted to what is known as a "strategic lawsuit against public participation" (SLAPP) and was meant to intimidate and silence critics. "This is really about freedom of speech and freedom of association," Smith said. "This is akin to going to a regular public school and telling the PTA to get out." Brown referred all questions about the suit to her attorney, Wendy Beetlestone. Beetlestone said it was a defamation case and not a SLAPP suit. "In any kind of public discussion, you have to make sure that what you say is true and doesn't bring down the reputation of the person you're talking about," Beetlestone said. She said parents had failed to respond to requests to stop spreading information that she said defamed Brown. "June Brown is a highly respected and innovative educator and has been for many years," Beetlestone said. "When the debate turns to making false statements and doing everything they can to bring her down, she is left with no other option. That's what this lawsuit is about." Brown is the founder of three traditional charter schools in Philadelphia. In 2005, she and Brien N. Gardiner, founder of the Philadelphia Academy Charter School in Northeast Philadelphia, co-founded Agora to provide online home instruction to students across the state. The school Web site listed Gardiner as a co-founder, but his name was removed in May after he became the subject of a federal criminal investigation at Philadelphia Academy and was fired from his consulting position at the charter. The lawsuit against the parents claims Gardiner "had no role in founding Agora and his name does not appear in Agora's application for a charter or in subsequent organizational documents." Brown's lawsuit also charges that Agora parents tried to imply that she "was guilty of some financial wrongdoing on the basis of her association with Gardiner." Records show that Brown and Gardiner did business together. In 2005, they established Cynwyd Group as an educational management company, state records show. In November 2007, the company paid $1.9 million to buy a property at 60 Chestnut Ave., Tredyffrin, that houses the Agora headquarters. The relationship between Gardiner and Brown was severed in May 2008. Gardiner and others were removed from Philadelphia Academy in Ma http://www.philly.com/philly/business/homepage/20090203_Devon_charter_school_sues_parents.html
Primary & Secondary Education - 3 Answers
Random Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions :
1
Sounds to me as if this school is shooting itself in the foot. There is no way they will win this case, unless their allegations of defamation and libel are true, which seems unlikely. And to answer the question, yes, charter schools should be able to sue, but only if they have a case. This doesn't sound like a case to me, and public schools are different, naturally. Any activity funded by taxpayer monies would not have that recourse when taxpayers are only making sure their money is not wasted. Private organizations have that right, even if it is frivolous.
2
Too much to read Even if they were sued, I doubt any judge would let it go threw. Parents have a right to know whats going on in the school system their children attend. And even if they did get sued, the community, PTA's, would have a riot. They wouldn't let their injustice go unnoticed.
3
It's hard to say from this article if there is reason for a lawsuit. If the parents sent out emails to people of authority in which Browns reputation was damaged, and those alegations were false, there would be grounds for a lawsuit. No matter who you are, you can't just go and tell people "So and so is a bad person and they do illegal things" if you have no proof. Doing so is ALOT different than "Just asking questions" But in this news article we don't know what was said in the emails. Also The school may not win because a deflamation of character suit has to prove that Brown's reputation has actually been damaged to the point where she either lost her job, or lost income or potential income of some kind. If she was no longer able to get a job or lost her job due to false acusations, then she would have grounds to recieve money. So really it all depends on how things were worded in the emails. The difference might be as simple as "She has..." vs "I think she might have"
