Cease-and-desist letters sent by DeKalb PTA Council officials to a Chamblee Middle School parent are threatening legal action for “a continued pattern of harassment towards PTSA volunteers, school administrators, and district leadership.”
Margaret Wright Boylan, as a parent new to the school, said she is merely trying to get financial information about the school’s PTSA organization. She said her attempts have been thwarted by school officials and DeKalb’s PTA District 1 Council, which runs the PTSA at Chamblee Middle School.
An email sent by Region 1 PTA Council President Ashley Head to DeKalb School Board District 1 Board Member Andrew Ziffer, District 11 Georgia PTA Director Valencia Johnson, Chamblee Middle School’s Principal Brenton Williams, other Georgia PTA officials, and the DeKalb County School District (DCSD) Legal Affairs office said Boylan’s requests “have clearly moved beyond a legitimate request for information.”
“The repeated communications have become excessive, disruptive, and constitute a pattern of harassment,” Head’s letter stated. “No volunteer should be expected to endure constant accusations, repeated demands, or continuous email campaigns after their questions have already been answered.”
The letter further asks DCSD and Georgia PTSA to conduct a formal review to determine whether Boylan’s “ongoing conduct violates applicable district policies regarding harassment, intimidation, or disruptive communications …” and to take action deemed appropriate to protect school administrators and others from continued “harassment.”
The Head letter was dated Aug. 27, but Boylan said she was not aware of its existence until it was sent as a response to one of her open record requests in mid-September.
Boylan sought financial clarity
Boylan said her inquiries about the PTSA started on Aug. 13, sparked by what she called a lack of information on the school’s PTSA website, including the names of previous and present officers, and publicly available financial information.
“I requested financial records for the past three years from different people because I didn’t have a clear picture of who has the information,” Boylan told Rough Draft. “I got an email from the school saying there will be an election, but it doesn’t say for what positions.”
Boylan said after she didn’t get a response to her request for historical financial information and past and current officer names, she started emailing Head and Johnson because they were listed as contacts on a flyer about the PTSA. She also filed nine FOIA requests to DCSD seeking the same information.
“[Valencia Johnson] refused to provide any documents,” she claimed. “At one point, she said documents can be viewed on site [at Chamblee Middle School].”
When Boylan visited the school on Aug. 19, she said she was told by a school official that there was “no listing of officers, no listing of electors, and that I cannot have access to PTSA documents because ‘they are a 501c3 and don’t have to show me anything.'”
Boylan then submitted an opinion piece to Rough Draft, published Sept. 2, wherein she questioned whether or not a PTSA was needed given the presence of an already active foundation at the school.
Cease-and-desist letter hand-delivered
On Sept. 9, at an in-person PTSA meeting to elect a slate of officers for the upcoming school year, Boylan said she was handed a notarized cease-and-desist letter signed by Johnson, repeating the same claims Head made on Aug. 27.
“It has come to our attention that you have made and/or distributed statements concerning the Chamblee Middle School PTSA that are false, misleading and harmful to the organization and its leadership,” the letter to Boylan detailed.
It called for Boylan to cease making the alleged false statements, and, if not, the Chamblee PTSA “reserves all legal rights and remedies available under applicable law.”
Questions to District 1 PTA officials remain unanswered
Rough Draft sent a list of questions to Head, Johnson, and Ziffer, asking about the cease-and-desist letters and to identify whether the statements from Boylan considered to be false were in regard to her published opinion piece.
Rough Draft also asked why historical financial information about the Chamblee Middle School PTSA was not made available to Boylan, along with several other questions about whether the letters sent to Boylan could be considered official legal documents.
Neither Head nor Johnson responded to Rough Draft’s email request. Ziffer referred the questions to DCSD’s communications department.
In a separate email, Rough Draft reached out to DCSD for comment about Head’s Aug. 27 letter, which was sent to the school district’s legal department.
“The cease-and-desist letter was sent to Ms. Boylan by PTSA leadership, not DCSD,” according to an email response from DCSD. “The PTSA is a separate organization from the District and operates independently. Therefore, DCSD does not have a comment to offer regarding the questions raised in your inquiry.”
Boylan said the whole process has been exhausting and entirely unnecessary.
“I’m not sure why any private organization operating within a school shouldn’t be transparent about its finances, considering they are asking for monetary support from parents,” she said. “I just want the best for the students, staff, and school community. Asking legitimate questions should not be considered harassment.”
