Somewhere on the Gulf Coast. When I spoke with Donald Godwin Wednesday, the attorney representing ESD in a certain civil complaint, he told me he was traveling.

Is it for business or pleasure? Most definitely the former. Godwin told me he is the chief trial lawyer for Halliburton and is representing the company in, oh, 110 or so lawsuits that have been filed against the company since a certain oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.  So, in case you’re wondering, he’s probably somewhere between Texas and Florida.

When I was in fifth grade, I probably would have fled the country if someone so much as suggested I take up ballroom dancing. Luckily, the kids at Preston Hollow Elementary are braver than I was–and better dancers. They’ve been foxtrotting, swinging, tangoing, and merengue-ing all year long, and their hard work has paid off. A team of fifth graders just took bronze at the Dancing Classrooms of North Texas Dallas County semi-final tournament.

The team consists of Kaitlin Bobo, Juan Calixto, Jasmine Davila, Christopher Estrella, Alexza Garza, Phillip Glispin, Zane Kohrs, Jose Martinez Oliva, Khaliah Owens, Litzy Ramos Rodriguez, Tristan Segura, and Sarahi Trejo.

I drove up to Denton today in search of divorce filings for John Nathan Campbell, the former ESD teacher accused of having a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old student. In the petition, filed in December (the split was finalized March 26), Campbell’s ex-wife cites “discord or conflict of personalities” and adultery as the grounds for divorce. It does not go into further detail.

His wife retains custody of their 3-year-old son and their Carrolton home. The address and phone number listed for Campbell in court documents–a condominium in Northeast Dallas–appears to belong to his mother.

On a side note, Sgt. Brenda Nichols of the Dallas Police Department’s child abuse squad said a criminal investigation into Campbell was launched in December and is ongoing. She does not know when it will be concluded. She said the grounds on which ESD decided to fire him (attorney Donald Godwin said the school made the decision but Campbell quit before it was able to carry it out) do not prove that anything criminal happened.

“We’re not interested in administrative type of thing as far as what the school is going to be interested in,” Nichols said. “We’re strictly interested in whether he violated a law of the state of Texas.”

Under state law, a high school teacher engaging in a sexual relationship with a student is a second degree felony, as is an adult having a sexual relationship with a minor.

Jesuit junior Jordan Spieth is once again forced to kill some time during a weather dealy at a golf tournament.
Spieth was supposed to tee off at 1:45 this afternoon at the Byron Nelson, his first PGA Tour event. Instead, he’s playing ping pong in the media center. The opening round of the tourney shut down because of bad weather around 10:30 a.m. and has yet to resume, which means he’ll likely tee off closer to 6 p.m.
Spieth spent part of his lengthy weather delay at last week’s Class 5A state tournament watching “Avatar.”

Good Shepherd’s Center for Creative Learning

It wasn’t but two weeks ago that Ursuline unveiled their shiny new Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation-funded science complex, which was unveiled 13 days ago as the first LEED Gold school building in the Southwest, a claim that was later retracted when the school learned of a LEED Gold facility at a school in New Mexico. But that still made them the first in Texas, which isn’t to shabby.

Not to be outdone by the all-girls Catholic high school, Good Shepherd Episcopal School just announced it’s own LEED Gold building which, according to the press release just sent by the school, is a first for a Texas elementary school. GSES’s Center for Creative Learning, which has been around at least since I toured the school in September or so but just received the certification, boasts natural lighting, clean air processing, recycled building materials, and energy conservation measures.

Now, it could be mere coincidence that the schools happened to brandish their green building chops just two weeks apart, or that a green building zeitgeist has finally taken hold. Perhaps. Or maybe this is merely a continuation of the sectarian squabble started by King Henry VIII when he broke off from the Roman Catholic Church in 1538. This is shaping up to be significantly less bloody than other Catholic-Protestant conflicts like, say, the Thirty Years’ War, but just the same, this could just be the beginning of an arms race for environmental street cred. Will Jesuit install a sod roof? Will ESD respond with a greywater recycling system? Will Ursuline unveil a new line of 100-percent hemp uniforms?

Finally got my hands on a copy of the lawsuit alleging that the Episcopal School of Dallas is culpable for an alleged seven-month sexual relationship between history teacher J. Nathan Campbell and a 16-year-old student, which was filed Monday.  The parents want a refund of all tuition ever paid to the school (the student was enrolled since kindergarten), compensation for therapy/treatment resulting from the alleged misconduct, and further damages which, the lawsuit points out, are not limited under Texas law. You can read the lawsuit by clicking here (and clicking on ESDLawsuit). Be forewarned, some of the allegations are graphic, at least as far as legalese goes.

Six months? Village Tea opened in November, but the banner still touts it’s “Grand Opening.” IJS.

Well, the Morning News beat me to it–I searched high and low yesterday and, as far as I can tell, the lawsuit hasn’t actually been filed–but the parents of a former student are suing the school for, according to the article, “failing to protect their 16-year-old daughter from a sexual relationship with a teacher and expelling her ‘for being a victim.’” Former history teacher J. Nathan Campbell, who left the school in the fall, is the teacher accused in the lawsuit, according to DMN (and, if Facebook is to be believed, is the best football announcer in the history of ever).

Campbell’s home phone has been disconnected, so no dice yet talking to him. School officials are referring questions to attorney Donald Godwin, with whom I just left a message. Below, though, is a letter, dated Monday, from headmaster Stephen Swann to parents, informing them (albeit very obliquely) of the allegations against the school. “[P]lease know that ESD stands by its certain knowledge that
the school acted in an appropriate, timely, and definitive manner,” he writes. Major props to Park Cities People blogger and columnist Merritt “Queen Miracle Worker” Patterson for digging this up.

My main question: If the school found out about the alleged affair in the fall, why are parents just being informed now that a lawsuit is being threatened? Updates to come.

Finding the right eyewear for your face is tough, especially if you have a round one like me. That’s why places like Occhiali Modern Optics in Preston Center are fabulous. The chic eyeglass hub has a slew of designer shades from Michael Kors, Gucci, Armani, Alain Mikli, Chrome Hearts, and IC! Berlin, to name a few. And from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. tomorrow, they’ll host designer eyewear and jewelry trunk show for French eyeglass line Face a Face (left) and local jewelry line Delight Van Dame. Did I mention there will be lots of champagne? So if you’re in the market for some seriously fierce specs, look no further!

I’d heard rumblings from some corners that the Texas Attorney General’s office was temporarily shelving its suit against travel club All Inclusive Excursions (aka Royal Palms Travel) which, the lawsuit alleges, lured customers to presentations with promises of free gifts, then bilked them of thousands of dollars.

But, per AG spokesman Tom Kelley, the lawsuit isn’t going anywhere. The office is foregoing the temporary injunction it was seeking to keep AIE from doing business since, Kelly says, the company seems to be operating aboveboard. It appears to have closed its Fort Worth and San Antonio offices, and it’s only doing minor travel reservations, Kelley said.

“For practical purposes, we do not need a temporary injunction in place. We have not had any complaints additionally come in, and it’s just proceeding as litigation does proceed,” he said.

Frank Morrone, the retired Windsor Park obstetrician whom I wrote about for Preston Hollow People’s March 5 cover story on AIE/Royal Palms, had been trying to recover the $7,593 he gave the company for months. Since the suit was filed, he and other AIE customers have received refunds.

“The curious thing is, about a week or so after the lawsuit was filed–and I was named as one of the people to be a witness–we got a phone call from them, which my wife fielded,” Morrone said. “They said ‘We understand you’re unhappy, and we will be happy to refund your money.’ Now, why they hadn’t done that since last July, I don’t know.”

No trial date has been set, but Kelley said the AG’s office will continue to pursue the case.

“They’ve [AIE] got tentacles out all over the place, so by no means are we done with this–by no stretch,” Kelley said. “We’re going to see it all the way through.”