Arizona AG Sues School District Accused of Blocking Public Comment During Meetings: ‘Parents Should Never Be Silenced’

Arizona’s Attorney General has filed a lawsuit against Scottsdale Unified School District (SUSD) and its former board president for allegedly barring citizens from commenting on certain issues during meetings.

According to Attorney General Mark Brnovich (R), Jann-Michael Greenburg “limited the public’s ability” to offer their opinions on masking during two meetings in August, Fox News reported Monday.

Brnovich wrote about the lawsuit in a recent social media post, saying, “Parents should never be silenced regarding the education of their children”:

Today, our office filed a lawsuit seeking to remove Jann-Michael Greenburg from the Scottsdale Unified School Board.

Parents should never be silenced regarding the education of their children. https://t.co/iIrJPn2kBm

— Mark Brnovich (@GeneralBrnovich) June 20, 2022

The lawsuit stated:

During a series of meetings in August 2021 Defendants violated the Open Meeting Law by knowingly structuring an agenda and meeting so as to prohibit public comment about a proposed mask mandate and other subjects within the jurisdiction of the Scottsdale Unified School District Governing Board (the “Board), knowingly applying unauthorized content-based restrictions on public comment made during a Board meeting, and knowingly cutting off or otherwise interrupting speakers during a call to the public.

…

The Board repeatedly cut off any speaker whenever Greenburg determined that the topic discussed strayed too far from the 2021-2022 instructional time model. In so doing, the Board, through Greenburg, applied a content-based restriction on speech.

In November, several mothers allegedly found Greenburg had access to a Google drive that contained personal information, documents, and pictures of nearly 50 people that included children, according to a report.

A parent named Amy Carney called for him to resign.

She said, “We cannot allow anyone in a leadership position to secretly compile personal documents and information on moms and dads who have dared speak out publicly or on social media about their grievances with the district.”

Later that month, the SUSD’s Governing Board voted out Greenburg and a board majority called for him to step down, the Arizona Republic reported November 15.

Meanwhile, the SUSD reportedly hosted a group that promoted gender identity to children called “Unitown Club,” according to a Breitbart News article published June 13.