SAGINAW, MI —
"Talk to my attorney," Patterson said when asked about the lawsuit by The Saginaw News on Tuesday, Nov. 5.
Patterson and his attorney, Michael J. Forster, filed the suit Oct. 30 in Saginaw County Circuit Court. He is suing the Board of Education, Superintendent Carlton Jenkins and Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources and Labor Relations Kelley Peatross for audio copies of four meetings, attorney fees and punitive damages.
Patterson, elected in 2011, is seeking unedited and uncut copies of audio recordings of four board meetings: the July 17 action meeting, Aug. 12 athletics committee meeting, the Aug. 17 human resources meeting and the Sept. 11 policy and curriculum committee meeting.
District officials denied Patterson's two Freedom of Information Act requests for the audio recordings, sent in August and September, stating the district does not possess records with that description.
In a letter to Patterson, Peatross offered to make the technology available for him to listen to the digital recordings of the meetings and transcribe them himself.
School board member Ruth Ann Knapp also declined comment on Tuesday.
"It would be inappropriate to talk about legal action in process," she said.
A legal response from the district to Patterson is due Nov. 20.
— Lindsay Knake covers education for MLive/The Saginaw News. Follow her on twitter or contact her at 989-372-2498 or lknake@mlive.com.