A very serious and strained situation has taken a bizarre turn.
I blogged about the latest lawsuit against the School Board and Parkway Principal Nichole Bourgeois. I also included a link to a Facebook page that has been set up.
A petition was also started on Change.org to ask the school board to remove Dr. Bourgeois as principal.
School Board President Eddy Presley responded on the petition.
Comments on the Facebook page heated up at that point.
Late last night Presley accused the people who set up the page of Cyber Bullying.
In an attempt to get a clarification and possibly calm the situation down, this morning I sent Mr. Presley the following email:
Mr. Presley,
On my blog, 'My Bossier', I have posted about the lawsuits and controversy surrounding Parkway and Principal Bourgeois.
You seem to have created quite a stir with some remarks on a Facebook page and a petition.
Would you care to make a statement about it for me to put on the blog when I engage that subject?
Thanks,
Jim Wells
His reponse was the following:
We r not being sued because I have not served lawsuit papers
Why don't you find out who started the petition and ask them??
Why don't you find out who started the petition and ask them??
In fact the lawsuits do exist.
Here is a link to the lawsuit filed by Jessica Morton.
Here is a link to the lawsuit filed by Lori Rayborn.
I don’t have a link to the lawsuit filed by Coach Musemeche, but I do know that it was filed in East Baton Rouge District Court. The suit number is 617210. The case has been assigned to Division E, Judge William A. Morvant. Attorney Jill L. Craft is representing Coach Musemeche.
So yes, lawsuits have been filed despite the President of the School Board saying that they have not.
So far as asking the people who started the petition, they have nothing to do with the lawsuits and they certainly can’t make a statement for Mr. Presley.
People do have a right to address their grievances, whether in an online petition, a Facebook page or by whatever means. I think it is good that a public official will respond, but I am at a total loss as to the manner in which he chose to do so. Calling people morons and accusing them of cyber bullying is frankly over the top. I'm also at a loss to understand how he could say that the board is not being sued.
We will see how it plays out.
