Former Camp Crystal Director sues Prescott Cowles, Carlee Simon, and School Board for defamation and intentional interference with a contract

BY JENNIFER CABRERA

ALACHUA COUNTY, Fla. – Former Camp Crystal Director Scott Burton and his wife, Alachua Elementary School Principal Holly Burton (formerly Principal of Shell Elementary in Hawthorne), have filed a lawsuit against Alachua County School Board (ACSB), Former Alachua County Public School Superintendent Carlee Simon, and current School Board candidate Prescott Cowles for defamation, intentional interference with a contract, intentional interference in business relationships, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. All five current members of the school board–Leanetta McNealy, Tina Certain, Robert Hyatt, Mildred Russell, and Gunnar Paulson–are named in the lawsuit. Cowles is listed as “assistant to [Simon], support staff and her confidant.”

The lawsuit claims damages in excess of $15,000, not including costs and attorney fees.

Burtons say the whole thing began at a Hawthorne community meeting

In the lawsuit, Ms. Burton claims that her family was targeted by Simon and the School Board following a community meeting in Hawthorne in October of 2021, during which it has been reported that Simon said the school district planned to build a new K-12 school in Hawthorne and Ms. Burton, taken by surprise, expressed concerns about a K-12 school and the loss of Shell Elementary and what the school means to the community.

About eight days after the meeting, Mr. Burton was summoned to Simon’s office and questioned about his living arrangements at Camp Crystal. Burton maintains that his contract requires him to live on-site and that previous Camp Directors have lived at the camp at no charge, including utilities and satellite services. However, Simon reportedly told Mr. Burton that he would be required to sign a lease with ACSB to continue living at the camp. She also reportedly questioned him about the terms under which his children attended the camp.

Simon’s letter, allegedly backed by information from Cowles, launches investigation

In early November, Simon sent an email to ACSB that accused Mr. Burton of fraud, misuse of taxpayer funds, financial mismanagement, and ethical violations. The letter made it seem as if the Burtons were improperly receiving housing and utilities. The lawsuit alleges that much of the information used to write the letter was furnished by Cowles. The lawsuit says that the letter was “an attempt to fabricate and produce false and damaging allegations that were tantamount to a witch hunt.”

The lawsuit also says Cowles “was only too glad to assist, as it was common knowledge he had set his sights on Mr. Burton’s job.” The lawsuit notes that Cowles was “an interesting choice of a ‘witness'” because he only worked at the camp from August 2019 through 2020, and there was no camp in 2020. The lawsuit alleges that Cowles has been “outed for accessing Mr. Burton’s private and confidential communications without permission in an attempt to have Mr. Burton terminated. Upon information and belief, Cowles is responsible for furnishing much of the untrue allegations about Mr. Burton to the media.”

Simon gives Ms. Burton a low evaluation

Four days later, Ms. Burton says she received the worst evaluation she has ever received, that Simon had never even visited Shell Elementary during the school year, and that Simon did not offer any feedback to justify the low evaluation. Ms. Burton said Simon told her that she “does not believe that any individual should be rated as highly effective because that would indicate one has hit their ceiling.”

Mr. Burton placed on administrative leave

In January, after Mr. Burton was ordered to sign a lease with ACSB, Simon notified the district Human Resources department that Mr. Burton was involved in an incident involving “serious concerns about financial mismanagement and fraud” at the camp, and an investigation was opened despite having no complaint other than the letter from Simon. Mr. Burton was then placed on administrative leave and frozen out of his email account.

The lawsuit says that both prior to and after Mr. Burton was placed on leave, both Simon and Certain “knowingly and maliciously published false, misleading, damaging and slanderous statements” to individuals, the School Board, and the media, “which have harmed Mr. Burton’s reputation.”

Financial audit that backed Burton was allegedly withheld

The lawsuit says that a financial audit was performed, and Mr. Burton obtained it on February 28, 2022, after requesting it on February 4. The audit did not support Simon’s claims that Burton had acted inappropriately but instead concluded that the district had changed reporting requirements in a way that was incompatible with the camp’s registration software and noted that there was no scholarship policy in place.

This audit was reportedly not made available to either Mr. Burton or the investigator in his Human Resources investigation, although it was completed in late January, before the February 7 completion of the investigative report and February 16 meeting of the Investigative Review Committee.

The Investigative Review Committee found no probable cause to sustain any violations of law or school board policies against Mr. Burton.

Lawsuit alleges that Cowles shredded school district documents

The lawsuit alleges that on February 27, Cowles and an unidentified woman were observed shredding documents in the School Board administrative building, then using a vacuum cleaner to eliminate the shreds. The complaint says, “To date, many of Mr. Burton’s public records requests remain unfulfilled.”

The lawsuit gives multiple examples of defamatory remarks made by Simon in her November letter to the School Board concerning Mr. Burton and claims that the remarks were made out of malice and that they have damaged his “standing and reputation in the community.”

The lawsuit claims that Simon and Cowles took actions that were intended to “induce a breach or disruption” of Mr. Burton’s contract with ACSB and that Simon took actions to have both Burtons terminated from their positions with ACSB. It also claims that Simon, Certain, and McNealy together “designed” Ms. Burton’s low evaluation to punish her for public disagreement.

Burtons seek damages, an apology, and costs

The lawsuit asks the Court to award the Burtons compensatory damages, require ACSB to make a public retraction and apology, and award the Burtons attorneys’ fees and costs.

The Burtons are represented by Attorney Bryan Boukari, who sent a pre-suit notice letter to the School Board in February. At that time, Simon told us that her initial email “speaks for itself.” She continued, “Regardless of the outcome of the investigation we do know that we need to correct our internal systems associated with Camp Crystal… One of my top priorities has been to examine and improve all internal systems and policies throughout the district to protect taxpayer funds. We are already establishing increased oversight and accountability mechanisms to address the concerns that I shared in my initial email to the board.”