The following newspaper article appeared in the November 28th, 2007, issue of The Bosque County News:
ATTORNEY GENERAL'S OFFICE TO INVESTIGATE GAP SCHOOL BOARD
By Evan Moore Bosque County News
Cranfills Gap-----Bosque County District Attorney B.J. Shepherd has referred an open meetings violation complaint against the Cranfills Gap school board to the Texas Attorney General's Office.
Shepherd said, after reviewing the complaint by board member Sue Lee, that IT MERITED INVESTIGATION. The Texas Attorney General's Office normally prosecutes open meeting violations and Shepherd said he would refer the case to the state office.
AN INVESTIGATOR from the attorney general's office was expected to be in Bosque County on Monday, November 26th. The complaint traces back to a board meeting on May 25th, when the board voted to ban high school valedictorian Kaitlan Head from graduation exercises and force her into DAEP classes.
These actions were the result of an altercation between Head and salutatorian Sarah Sellers on May 9th. In that incident, Head was struck with a book and Sellers was scratched with a pen. Head was suspended, not allowed on the senior trip and then-Superintendent Carla Sigler threatened to expel her.
The Head family protested Sigler's actions and demanded an open hearing before the school board on the matter.
At that hearing, however, the board TWICE WENT INTO CLOSED SESSION despite protests from Head's attorney, John Cullar, and the Bosque County News that their actions were in violation of the Texas Open Meetings Act.
During one of those sessions, said Lee, Sigler read from what she described as signed statements of witnesses to the altercation. In the second, Lee added, the board ostensibly went into executive session to consult with their attorney, but that attorney was never called and the Head case was discussed.
The complaint cites board members Kenny Wiese, Jeff Rose, Shelly Stuart, Ray Sorrels, Virgil Tindall, and Kathie Witte.
Under the Texas Open Meetings Act, Kaitlan Head and her family were entitled to an open hearing if they so desired.
Violation of the act is punishable by a fine of as much as $500 and a jail term of as much as six months or both.
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4 comments:
One correction to this account: The Sellers girl was STABBED with a pen in the chin and in the arm--not 'scratched'. Under Texas Penal Code that qualifies as using a weapon to inflict harm. If you're going to tell a story, then please tell the WHOLE story. Mr. Moore is known to only tell certain facts as he sees fit. Check his history from way back.
Anothernorwegian: Stabbed, you say?Well, why in the world don't you notify the girl's parents that she has been stabbed and has a serious injury? Why don't you take her to the hospital--- to the Emergency Room--- if she needs medical attention? Why don't you notify law enforcement that there has been a stabbing with serious injury? Why file a charge of disorderly conduct (fighting) --a week later, by the way-if it was a charge of stabbing with a pen resulting in a serious injury? Why would the parents of the girl let her immediately go out of town on a FOUR-DAY senior trip, if it is such a serious injury? Why, indeed! That it was NOT a stabbing or a serious injury is proven by the fact that the girl did not require medical treatment and no law enforcement was involved for the SLIGHT INJURY THAT IT WAS. Neither Carla Sigler nor anyone at the school even told Sarah's parents that she had been injured. They were not notified by the school or Carla Sigler that Sarah had even been in a fight, and that she, Sarah, had actually started the physical violence--escalated the fight to a physical level---by using a heavy textboook AS A WEAPON to hit the other girl, Kaitlan, IN THE HEAD. For your information, your hands are considered weapons, or the car you are driving --whatever, just as much as a book or a pen--if it is used to inflict damage on someone. Luckily, both Kaitlan and Sarah's injury was slight and neither required medical treatment. As Jesse Best, the student who broke it up, has said repeatedly: "IT WAS JUST A FIGHT AND IT WAS BLOWN WAY OUT OF PROPORTION!" So, unless you were a big old black fly on the wall and Carla Sigler was incompetent enough to not seek medical treatment for either girl if they needed it, YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT!!!!! Since you want the whole story to be told, I want to know why--WHY?---was NOTHING NOTHING-- NOTHING--not one thing-done to Sarah?
Anothernorwegian: As far as I have been able to ascertain, Mr. Evan Moore does report the facts....the one who told so many lies is Carla Sigler, whose first lie was she had a PhD legal in Texas----"Dr. Sigler, my a--!" I would guess that you may not like some of the things that Mr. Moore has reported on or the facts in his story, so you disparage him. I think he is a fine investigative reporter who got a bad smell when Carla Sigler denied repeatedly (lied) then finally admitted it was she, Carla, who had foolishly left the ugly threatening message on Michelle Dubay's answering machine for the entire town to hear what the real Carla was like. I say Bravo for Mr. Moore for ferreting out the truth about the fake DR. Carla Sigler!
Anothernorwegian: I want to know what you think should have happened to Sarah for her part in the fight. What, if anything, do you think should have happened to Sarah? I would really like to know.
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