Audra Kimball, former Huntsville School District superintendent and current personnel and program compliance director, and former junior high school basketball coach Kaleb Houston have been summoned to appear for charges of failure to notify by mandated reporters in the first degree, according to Fourth Judicial Prosecuting Attorney Matt Durrett.
A federal district court judge dismissed a Title IX lawsuit brought by Becky Nelle against the Huntsville School District after approving a settlement proposed by the two parties.
No Huntsville School District administrator will be charged for failing to contact the Arkansas Child Abuse Hotline immediately after learning of sexual-abuse allegations, according to findings by Capt. Russell Alberts in a Madison County Sheriff’s Office incident report.
Attendance at depositions in an ongoing Title IX lawsuit against the Huntsville School District will be limited to students, their parents and attorneys, and plaintiff and her attorneys, and unredacted transcripts of the depositions will be sealed, according to an order filed last Friday by U.S. District Judge Timothy L. Brooks.
After learning that the Huntsville School Board was close to violating a court order, Huntsville School District Superintendent Audra Kimball scheduled a last-minute training session held Monday night after the board’s regular meeting.
Two significant decisions in the Huntsville School District’s ongoing Title IX saga were handed down last week.
United States District Judge Timothy L. Brooks last week denied the Huntsville School District’s motion seeking to prevent parties in a Title IX lawsuit involving allegations of sexual abuse by members of the Huntsville School District’s basketball team from commenting to the media or posting on social media about the case – essentially a gag order.
A decision maker in the Huntsville School District’s months-long second Title IX investigation concluded three players on the 2019-2020 junior high basketball team committed sexual harassment but expulsion of the players was “not warranted.”
A new decision maker hired last week in the ongoing Title IX investigation into alleged sexual assaults by players on the boys basketball team said he hopes to provide Huntsville School District with a decision of responsibility by the end of the year.
An opinion from Fourth Circuit Judge Doug Martin in a Freedom of Information Act case against the Huntsville School District found the district didn’t violate a portion of the law when it asked The Madison County Record General Manager Shannon Hahn to leave an expulsion hearing concerning students who had been alleged to have sexually assaulted teammates on the Huntsville basketball team.
Another complaint was filed with the Huntsville Police Department in the ongoing actions of Huntsville School District administrators and school board members in the district’s handling of Title IX investigations into the boys’ basketball program.
Both The Madison County Record and a local parent suing the Huntsville School District in U.S. District Court for Title IX violations have filed their responses to a request for a pre-trial publicity gag order in the case.
The months-long second Huntsville School District Title IX investigation into alleged sexual assaults in the boys’ locker rooms was thrown into a tailspin when decision maker Brian Hogue abruptly withdrew after receiving text messages from longtime school board member Duane Glenn who was attempting to improperly influence Hogue’s decision.
A parent frustrated with what he calls continued lack of transparency and failure to protect Huntsville School District students presented a petition with more than 120 signatures demanding the entire school board resign during the school board’s November meeting.
Fayetteville attorney Brian Hogue will no longer be the decision maker in the ongoing months-long Title IX investigation into alleged sexual assaults by members of the Huntsville School District’s boys basketball team after Hogue received a text message in which someone sought to influence his decision.
U.S. Federal District Judge Timothy Brooks on Monday granted The Madison County Record’s motion to intervene in a Title IX lawsuit filed against the Huntsville School District. The Record asked to intervene after the Huntsville School District filed a motion seeking to seal the entire case and seeking an order limiting pre-trial publicity, essentially a gag order. The district asked the court to prohibit attorneys and those involved in the case from speaking to the media and from speaking about the case on social media.
After nearly five hours of testimony and attorney arguments, Fourth Judicial Circuit Court Doug Martin delayed a decision on whether the Huntsville School District violated the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act by denying a reporter access to an appeals hearing and refusing to tender documents to Witter resident Ben Rightsell.
The Record expressed its opposition to the Huntsville School District’s motion for a gag order in a lawsuit filed by a parent alleging the district knew about sexual assaults in the boys locker room for two years but did nothing to report or stop them, thereby allowing her son to become a victim.
Fourth Judicial District Prosecuting Attorney Matt Durrett said his office has begun a criminal review into whether Huntsville School District administrators notified the Arkansas Child Abuse Hotline of sexual assault allegations “immediately” as required by law and into whether the Huntsville School Board and District violated the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act in not turning over requested documents.
On Friday, the Huntsville School District filed a motion asking the court for an order limiting pre-trial publicity in the ongoing Title IX case involving the Huntsville boys basketball program. It is asking the court to direct parties not to comment – even on social medial.