This no doubt will not be the end of the Lamplighter saga with the ongoing lawsuit and what not, but it certainly has a ring of finality: The school’s board of trustees issued a statement last night announcing the termination, effective immediately, of Headmaster Arnold Cohen. The vote was unanimous. From my inbox at 8:41 p.m. last night:

On June 25, 2010 the Lamplighter School Board of Trustees notified Dr. Cohen of his termination as Head of School effective immediately.  The vote to terminate Dr. Cohen was unanimous.  We are disappointed that Dr. Cohen’s repeated breaches of his employment contract forced this action to be taken to protect the School, its students and its Community. The Board has initiated the process to identify an interim head for the upcoming school year and expects that process to conclude soon.

After Liberty Institute director of litigation Hiram Sasser made his appearance on behalf of Hillcrest Church and Coram Deo Academy at yesterday’s City Council meeting, I did a quick search of federal lawsuits in which he is an attorney. As I mentioned, Sasser and Hillcrest Church pastor Mark Brand say they are discussing their options. Sasser had several federal suits, most of them closed, and I didn’t have time to look through all of them. But here are the ones still pending (including a familiar one from Plano):

Jonathan Morgan, et. al. v. Plano Independent School District, et. al. (2004): Objects to the “continual efforts to ban Christmas” from Plano schools. Students were prohibited from distributing “The Legend of the Candy Cane” message and pencils that said “Jesus is the Reason for the Season.” Red and green colors and religious symbols were banned from PISD schools, according to the suit. The suit claims the prohibitions were unconstitutional.

Evelyne M. Shatkin and Linda Shifflett v. University of Texas at Arlington, et. al. (2006): Shifflett and Shatkin, over-40 UTA employees, were fired for praying in the cubicle of another employee, according to the suit. Shatkin dabbed olive oil on the cubicle in accordance with Bible passages. Another employee who prayed with them, a man under 40, was not fired. The suit claims religious, sex, and age discrimination.

Paul T. Palmer v. Waxahachie Independent School District (2008): Claims WISD violated a student’s constitutional rights when it punished Waxahachie High School sophomore Paul “Pete” Palmer for wearing a t-shirt with “John Edwards ‘08” emblazoned across the chest. School district rules prohibited students from expressing messages that don’t “concern ‘WISD clubs, organizations, sports, or … spirit … [or] college[s] or universit[ies]’ on their t-shirts.”

Yesterday, the Lamplighter board of trustees sent out a missive to parents and faculty laying out their side in what is becoming a very bitter fight. Contrary to what the trustees claim, Cohen never asked to be bought out and will fulfill the remainder of his contract, Cohen writes. The settlement talks were a result of attempts by trustees to force him out, and the signature on the retirement announcement was, indeed, forged. But here’s the note in full:

Dear Lamplighter Community:

I was appalled by the notice that was sent to all of you yesterday by the Lamplighter Board of Trustees.  It not only discusses confidential conversations had in an effort to resolve the dispute between two individual board members and me, but it also is a gross distortion of the facts.  Thus, I feel compelled to set the record straight.  Here are the facts.

It is simply not the case that I asked to be bought out of the last two years of my contract with the School.  I have never resigned my position as Head of School at Lamplighter.  To the contrary, I have consistently informed the new Board chair that I am ready, willing, and able to fulfill the remainder of my contract with the School.  Of course, I do insist that the Board abide by its contractual obligation not to interfere with my administration of the School and its faculty.

It was only after certain members of the Board interfered with decisions I made in the best interests of our School and its students that a controversy arose.  It is important for you to know that when I would not accede to their demands relative to personnel matters, I was informed by Mr. Miller and Ms. Pollock that they wanted me “gone!”
As such, I entered into confidential settlement negotiations in an effort to resolve the current dispute.  But no mutually agreeable settlement agreement was ever reached.

However, that did not stop certain members of the Board from attempting to orchestrate my departure from the School – while confidential settlement negotiations were still ongoing.  Hours after the close of business on Monday, June 14, 2010, counsel for the School sent an e-mail to my counsel informing him that the School would release my alleged “retirement announcement” the following morning.  At the time, I was in Virginia attending my daughter’s wedding.  By the time my counsel notified the School’s counsel that I had not resigned and the release of the draft retirement announcement was not authorized, the School had already disseminated it to the School’s faculty and others in the independent school community.  In fact, the School distributed the announcement before 8 a.m. on Tuesday, June 15, 2010.

To be clear, not only did I not authorize the release of the disseminated “retirement announcement,” I never signed it.  As unbelievable as it may sound, my signature was affixed to the announcement without my knowledge or consent.

Needless to say, I am shocked by the overt attempts to mislead you regarding the facts.  I stand by the claims made in my lawsuit.
Finally, I have never failed to maintain the confidentiality of any student academic records, or to uphold my commitments to the School and the education of its students.

Sincerely,

Arnie

It took me five trips to the courthouse to get past a spate of bureacratic obstacles, but I finally got a copy of a lawsuit that was filed against Hillcrest Church on May 14. I’ll post the suit when I get back to the office and get it scanned, but for now, some details.

The suit was filed by Donnie Wiggins, a part-time musician, seeking damages for a fall he took on May 18, 2008. Wiggins, whom the suit says is visually impaired and “has mobility limitations that occasionally force him to use an assistive device,” was performing at the church as part of a fundraising concert. He made it up the stairs to the stage just fine by supporting himself against the wall. But on his way down, he slipped on the top step, tumbled down the stairs, and fell head first onto the concrete floor. Wiggins’ suffered “serious and disabling injuries” to his head, shoulder, elbow, and wrists from the fall which interfered with his music career.

The fall, the suit claims, could and should have been prevented. Hillcrest Church failed to ensure safety measures were in place for the fundraiser, failed to provide handrails and gripping materials on the stage, and failed to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, the suit alleges.

Wiggins is seeking unspecified damages for past and ongoing  medical bills, loss of income, and legal fees.

More as things develop.

At the risk of beating this into the ground, here is an e-mail sent today by Headmaster Arnold Cohen to Lamplighter parents and faculty:

Dear Lamplighter Community:

I want to thank all of you who have sent me messages and expressed your support for my administration following the recent actions of members of the Lamplighter Board.

As you know, I filed a lawsuit against the School last week in order to protect my ability to administer the School without interference.  I am terribly disappointed that certain members of the Board have placed me in this position after a decade of positive growth and achievement.  Each of you should know the facts regarding the current dispute.  Therefore, I attach to this note a copy of my lawsuit against the School and two members of the Board.

It is with great honor and responsibility that I served as the Head of School at Lamplighter.  My lawsuit reflects my commitment to the well-being and future of the School.

I hope each of you and your children have a wonderful summer.

Regards,
Arnold Cohen

For those of you who haven’t heard about the lawsuit filed by headmaster Arnold Cohen against Lamplighter and two members of its board of trustees, read the suit and D editor Tim Rogers’ take here. I’m hard at work cranking out a story for Friday’s paper (which we send to the printer this afternoon), but here’s a quick update from trustee Alex Sharma, on behalf of the board of trustees, received through Lamplighter spokeswoman Melissa Dorrill:

“In late May, Dr. Arnold Cohen asked to be bought out of the last two years of his Lamplighter contract.  Despite believing that Dr. Cohen had materially breached his contract, over the course of the next two weeks, Lamplighter in good faith negotiated a buyout with Dr. Cohen and his lawyer. As of June 15, we believed an agreement was at hand.  With advance notice to his lawyer, we then released the retirement statement that Dr. Cohen himself had drafted, and which he now claims defamed him.  Later that day, we received new settlement demands from Dr. Cohen’s counsel.  When we refused to agree to the new demands, Dr. Cohen chose to file his lawsuit, which is based upon false and distorted factual allegations.  In addition, for reasons only he can explain,  Dr. Cohen has maliciously attacked two of his most ardent supporters on the Board of Trustees, even going so far as to violate the privacy of the Pollock family by breaching the fundamental duty of a school to maintain the confidentiality of student academic records. In the coming days, we will be responding in full in court to the allegations in the case.  We ask that everyone withhold judgment until such time.”

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.

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.

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.

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.