By David Fortier
A Freedom of Information appeal, including the original request, brought by a current member of the Board of Education incurred $10,000 of legal fees before being dropped the day before a hearing that would have resolved the issue but cost Bristol Public Schools additional fees.
Jennifer Van Gorder, who was endorsed to fill an uncontested seat to the Bristol Board of Education by the Republican Town Committee to fill the void left by a resignation last summer, sought to appeal the results of an FOI request after deciding that the Board of Education was taking too long to comply.
“I understand that the hearing really won’t get me the missing information,” Van Gorder writes in an email to the Board of Education’s attorney, Jessica L. Ritter of Shipman and Goodman, dated Thursday, April 11, 2024, six months after the complaint was filed, and the same day Van Gorder ended the appeal.
Van Gorder continues, “At this point it would be a waste of everyone’s time to have a hearing. Thank you for explaining it all to me.”
What it is that Van Gorder was seeking with the complaint and whether it falls under the purview of the state Freedom of Information Commission is not clear. An FOI request does not have to include the reasons for such a request.
In the original FOI request received on Aug. 11, 2023, Van Gorder sought correspondence to and from then Board of Education chair Jen Dube, now Jen Tagariello, from her personal email and text messages from her phone between June 25 and Aug. 11, 2023, mentioning any of the following:
“…including any misspellings or abbreviations of Jennifer Van Gorder, Jennifer VanGorder, Jen Van Gorder, Jen VanGorder, JVG, Board of Education vacancy, rubric and committee assignment. Specifically, “the records should include correspondences sent, received and trashed.”
During this time Van Gorder had been endorsed by the RTC to fill a position on the board left vacant when Todd Sturgeon resigned. Her endorsement generated controversy among Republican Town Committee members as well as many members of the public for positions Van Gorder had taken during the COVID pandemic.
Eventually, several RTC members, including Dube, left the party.
As is typical with an FOIA request, Van Gorder received a response from the Board of Education in an email that acknowledged the request and informed the requestor that “We are in the process of reviewing what records we have which may be responsive to your request.”
“As your request seeks what may be large number of records it may take time to locate everything that falls within your request and determine what the copying costs will be. We will of course proceed as promptly as reasonably possible and will advise you when such records are available.”
Van Gorder said she had not heard anything again from the board, so she emailed the following, “Just following up, as I believe ‘reasonable time’ has passed.” She filed the complaint on Oct. 6, a few days before the results of the initial FOIA were made available.
A spreadsheet with charges from the attorney handling Board of Education business shows that there was regular communication between the law office and the Board of Education, including the chair, indicating that the initial request was being worked on.
A total of $10,311.50 was charged and paid for by the Board of Education, as confirmed by the acting superintendent of schools, Iris White, in an email dated June 4.
Van Gorder withdrew her appeal on April 11, one day before former Superintendent of Schools Dr. Catherine Carbone and both Jen and Dante Tagariello were scheduled to testify at a hearing.
Current Board of Education chair Shelby Pons said in a statement that she is aware of the complaint and legal fees associated with defending the complaint.
“It is understandable that there are concerns about the legal expenses, especially during a time when the board is making difficult decisions about the budget,” she writes.
She added that the board cannot refuse an FOI request, even it if might be considered frivolous.
“The board recognizes the importance of upholding every individual’s right to access information, as the Freedom Information Act plays an important role in keeping our citizens informed about government actions and decisions. This promotes accessibility, transparency and accountability.”
Regarding finances, the Board of Education sought a 4.1 percent increase for the 2024-2025 school year but received a 1.65 percent increase. The legal fees are being paid from the 2023-2024 budget year but legal fees are included in every Board of Education budget. TBE has not confirmed expenditures by the board on legal expenses for the year.
At the time she filed the request Van Gorder was being considered for a seat on the Board of Education, an appointment which Dube opposed, both as a member of the Republican Town Committee, which has a role in endorsing candidates, and as the chair of the Board of Education.
“Jennifier Van Gorder’s appointment to the Board of Education was problematic from the start due to her lack of qualifications and preparation compared to the other candidates,” Dube said in a statement. “A quick look at their resumes clearly highlighted this disparity.”
The sentiment is evident through the results of the original FOI, which includes over 80 pages of emails and text message regarding Van Gorder’s endorsement, not only from Dube, but also from a variety of citizens, and from other Board of Education members, as well as concerned parents.
Van Gorder in an email response to a TBE question about her reasons for pursuing the FOI in the first place characterized Dube’s position as antagonistic rather than principled, as a smear campaign, because Dube was upset that “a decision was made to endorse me when she wanted her friend in the seat, even though her term was up.”
In her own statemen to TBE, Dube said, “I supported a candidate who displayed a strong passion for the Board’s work and aimed to utilize their experience to enhance the district’s resources rather than squander them. The repercussion of the canceled claim extends beyond wasting financial resources, as it also diverted the time and skills of the District’s staff.”
The packet of information responding to the initial FOI also includes a rubric that graded candidates, requested in the FOIA by Van Gorder, that shows Van Gorder scored lower than the other candidates being considered to fill the vacancy.
Van Gorder, in her email to TBE, goes so far as to accuse Dube of juggling committee assignments and removing the policy committee chair in retaliation for her appointment.
Dube said in her email to TBE that the decision to remove the policy committee chair, Kristen Giantonio, as well as restructure subcommittee assignments, was a decision of the entire board, which voted 6-0, with two members abstaining (Giantonio and Russell Anderson).
This decision, according the Dube, had already been decided before Van Gorder’s appointment.
Dube denied the accusations about ignoring the initial FOI.
“When I was chair, the board did handle the request in a timely manner,” Dube said in an email. “The scope of an FOIA can take time, as all nine commissioners also needed to search and provide any documents related to the scope.”
“This request and the follow-up suit were very different because it is not all related to the business of the BOE. JVG wanted access to who and what was shared regarding herself,” she writes.
She categorized the requests as vanity and politics and not useful to the public.
Van Gorder filed two complaints, prior to reviewing the original documents, one against Dube and the other against Tagariello, for her intention to “drag her feet and ignore the FOIA request” and for his intention to “ignore the FOIA.”
“After my complaint was filed,” she writes in her email to TBE, “I received a response, however it was incomplete and was missing known documents.”
One document, an email, Van Gorder references in particular as missing, was reportedly sent from a personal email account and lacked any identifying details, Dube writes.
“Her objective in filing a complaint with the FOIA Commission,” Dube writes, “was to uncover the recipients of the alleged email.”
“The FOIA Commission is not intended to facilitate politically motivated inquires that are unrelated to its mandate,” she continues, “especially when such actions result in significant attorney fees that represent an excessive use of public resources.”
Dube concludes, “JVG’s FOIA request was clearly aimed at monitoring what parents and school district staff were saying about her. The Freedom of Information Act exists to protect the public’s right, ensure transparency, and promote accountability. It is unfortunate when individuals misuse FOIA for personal and political gain. It is truly disheartening that her actions resulted in over $10,000 of legal fees, with taxpayers bearing the burden of her irresponsible behavior.”
Both the lawyer and Pons sought more information from Van Gorder about the missing email, Dube said, without being able to clarify its origin.
Eventually, according to both Dube and Van Gorder, the mayor stepped in and advised Van Gorder that the claim was without merit.
“When Mayor Caggiano first heard about my FOIA he did reach out and said I was wasting my time,” Van Gorder writes in the email to TBE. “I most likely wasn’t going to get the response I was looking for. No one else told me to drop the case, in fact it was quite the opposite.”
Eventually, she said, she dropped the case because wasn’t going to get the missing documents, even with a hearing.
“It is disheartening,” she writes in her email to TBE, “to learn that while you can submit an FOIA request, that request can also be severely delayed, ignored, or not completed in full.”
Van Gorder ran as an uncontested candidate on the Republican ticket in the municipal elections of 2023 and has served as a member of the Board of Education since.
Dube served as chair of the Board of Education until October 2023, when she completed her last term.
Rit Carter contributed to the reporting.
Related stories:
Several TBE stories covering Van Gorder and Dube may be found here:
Prior to the election, an antisemitic post of hers was discovered on Facebook. Click here.
Van Gorder responded to the post in a separate article. Click here.
All TBE readers, supporters and donors
The Bristol Edition will be limiting the number of stories non-members and free readers may access each week. This decision is based on our financial projections and, most certainly, to remind people that TBE is serious about providing accurate, timely and thorough reporting for Bristol. To do this we have devised a financial support structure that makes unlimited access extremely affordable, beginning with a $6 monthly donation.
- Non-members will be able to access four (4) articles per week.
- Free readers and people who have subscribed by email will be able to access four (4) articles per week.
- Donors and financial supporters will have unlimited access as long as they log in.
Note: Donors may have to contact TBE if they find they are being limited, since we will need to set up a membership account for you. Email editor@bristoledition.org for instructions. Sorry for any inconvenience. People with financial difficulties may write editor@bristoledition.org to be considered for free access.