Rhode Island School District Sues Mother Over Teacher Records
A public school district in Rhode Island is reportedly suing a mother for approximately $117,000 to access records related to a high school teacher who was suspended after referring to slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk as “trash.”
Benjamin Philo, a social studies teacher at Barrington High School, was placed on paid leave in September following a TikTok post where he labeled Kirk as “trash” and criticized him for supposedly hating the LGBTQ community, women’s rights, and democracy.
An upset mother made a public records request for Philo’s school emails and class materials, but the district responded with a hefty fee. A letter from a law firm representing Barrington Public Schools detailed the costs.
Nicole Solas wanted to access emails Philo sent after September 1, 2024, that mentioned “Trump,” along with additional communications dating back to January 1, 2016, flagged with the same term.
She also requested all “curricular materials” that Philo used for teaching, expressing concerns about what she referred to as “indoctrination” in education.
The law firm indicated that Solas was looking for extensive materials, including thousands of documents from 157 courses since Philo began teaching there in 2010.
The records request revealed an astonishing 789 emails containing the word “Trump” sent by Philo after the specified date.
However, accessing all these materials wouldn’t come cheap. The school district indicated a minimum fee of $117,130.50. Just the curriculum costs were estimated at around $116,000.
Solas expressed her outrage, saying, “This quote we received just to obtain curriculum materials is outrageous and completely unreasonable,” in a conversation with a media outlet.
She emphasized the importance of reviewing curriculum materials to understand the influences on children in public schools, even though she herself does not reside in the Barrington district and sends her children to private school.
Now, she’s advocating for schools to provide educational materials at no cost.
Solas remarked, “I don’t know what would happen if we litigated this.”
After Philo’s suspension, a group of frustrated students and parents attended a school board meeting, demanding his permanent expulsion.
One of Philo’s students, Jakari, remarked during the meeting, “No matter what anyone tells me, I will never support violence, especially against a man who was killed in public, in front of his wife, one of his children, and thousands of students and other bystanders.”
Kirk was assassinated on September 10th during an event at Utah Valley University. The accused, Tyler Robinson, 22, has been charged with aggravated murder, discharging a firearm inflicting serious bodily injury, and obstruction of justice.
