Ledger-Enquirer sues for classroom video of student injured before leg amputation

The Columbus Ledger-Enquirer filed a Superior Court lawsuit Thursday demanding the Muscogee County School District release classroom surveillance video of a 2016 confrontation between student Montravious Thomas and a behavior specialist at Columbus’ Edgewood Student Services Center.

The lawsuit follows repeated open-records requests and negotiations between attorneys representing the newspaper and the district, which steadfastly has refused to release the footage involving the boy, then 13, and the contract behavior specialist who restrained him Sept. 12, 2016, about a month before Montravious’ right leg was amputated below the knee.

The district said it would release the video if Montravious’ family gave it permission. The Ledger-Enquirer’s attempts to secure that permission were unsuccessful, so the newspaper filed suit.

Representing the Ledger-Enquirer is attorney David E. Hudson of the law firm Hull Barrett in Augusta.

In the lawsuit, Hudson wrote that when the district initially denied the newspaper’s request, it claimed “the requested information would be an invasion of personal privacy and also that it falls under the definition of an ‘educational record’ as defined by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (‘FERPA’), and is therefore protected from production.”

FERPA, a federal law protecting the privacy of student records, does not apply in these circumstances, Hudson wrote, citing the 1993 Georgia Supreme Court case Red & Black Publishing Co. v. Board of Regents:

“FERPA has been construed by the Georgia Supreme Court as inapplicable to open records requests under Georgia law. In the Red & Black case, the Georgia Supreme Court instructed that FERPA applies to student academic performance, financial aid or scholastic probation records, but not to records pertaining to other events or occurrences in which a student was involved,” Hudson wrote.

Courts in other states also have ruled FERPA does not prohibit releasing the records the newspaper is seeking, he added: “The refusal of the MCSD to provide the requested documents is without substantial justification.”

Asked for comment via email Thursday, Hudson reiterated that the video is not a “student record” under federal law. “We all know what educational records are: a student’s grades, attendance report, test scores, evaluations, etc.,” Hudson said. “Surveillance videos have an entirely different purpose and should not be withheld based on a claim that these videos are covered by FERPA.”

The suit asks the court to set a hearing, order the district to release the video, and award attorney’s fees and other expenses to the newspaper.

“The school board will be given an opportunity to answer the case,” Hudson said. “There may be some discovery, depositions or interrogatories. Then the issue will be presented to the presiding judge for a determination. From that, one side or the other may then seek an appeal.”

The video evidence is crucial in determining what happened to a student while he was in the school district’s care, Hudson said:

“The operation of the public school system; the performance of school system staff; the safety of students are all issue of critical importance to a community. One role of a newspaper is to obtain all pertinent information and write about it for the good of the community’s citizens.”

Said Ledger-Enquirer Vice President and Executive Editor Dimon Kendrick-Holmes: “Our community has a lot of questions about the incident — and we believe a need to know — and the video could help answer those questions. That’s why we decided this is public information worth fighting for.”

Greg Ellington of the Columbus law firm Hall Booth Smith, which represents the school district, said he could not comment on the lawsuit until attorneys have had time to review it. The Gainesville, Ga., firm of Harben, Hartley & Hawkins is helping defend the district against a $25 million lawsuit Montravious’ family filed, and attorneys there also are aware of the newspaper’s attempts to secure the video, he said.

The family’s lawsuit alleges behavior specialist Bryant Mosley “body-slammed” Montravious five times before carrying the boy to a bus and sending him home. The teen’s mother, Lawanda Thomas, later took Montravious to Columbus’ Midtown Medical Center, from which he was airlifted to the Egleston hospital in Atlanta. After multiple surgeries, his right leg was amputated below the knee.

Written school district reports said Montravious was restrained three times, twice for six minutes each and the last for only 10 seconds, when Mosley released him because the boy said his leg hurt.

The school security video could resolve discrepancies in accounts of what occurred.

Other accounts

The Ledger-Enquirer has obtained other records related to the incident.

Montravious was sent to the 3835 Edgewood Road center’s program for students who violate the Muscogee County School District’s code of conduct. The program is named AIM for “Achievement, Integrity, Maturity.” Mosley was a contract employee with Mentoring & Behavioral Services of Columbus.

Also in the Edgewood classroom that day were Phyllis Fox, a teacher’s aide, and at times Eddie Powell, then the center’s assistant principal. Also present at one point was Zehra Malone, who was in charge of students like Montravious who have “individualized lesson plans.”

Mosley and Fox each filed an incident report the following day, Sept. 13, 2016, saying Montravious had been pacing about the room, picking things up and moving them around, walking on the furniture, and trying to leave.

Mosley reported that when he tried to calm Montravious, the student became “physically aggressive,” so Mosley restrained the boy with three “horizontal holds.”

Fox reported that Mosley “wrapped his arms around the student and took him to the ground multiple times” and “spoke to him to calm him down.” She set a timer to record how long the boy was restrained each time.

Fox wrote that Montravious kept trying to leave the room through the door or a window, threatened to spit on Mosley, and brandished a metal dustpan handle as a weapon.

“I attempted to get someone to the classroom multiple times,” she reported.

Eventually others arrived, including Malone, Powell and police Lt. Conseulo Askew, who was working as the school’s “resource officer,” Fox wrote, adding that Malone stayed to observe.

After the second six-minute restraint, Montravious again went for the dustpan handle, “and had to be restrained a final time,” Fox reported. “The last restraint ended after 10 seconds because of the way the BS (behavioral specialist) implemented the hold, to avoid getting hit by a long stick and spit on. ... During the last restraint, the student complained about his leg and was released.”

Also on Sept. 13, 2016, Melvin Blackwell, then the district’s head of student services, filed a “Child Protective Services” report with the Georgia Department of Human Resources.

He wrote that Montravious was picking up things that weren’t his and trying to climb out a window, prompting Mosley to restrain him. Montravious became more aggressive after that, leading to a second restraint, Blackwell reported.

He said Mosley restrained the boy a third time after the student grabbed the dustpan handle, which he was “swinging aggressively,” Blackwell reported. “The child stated his leg was hurt during the last restraint, and the behavioral specialist released the child after 10 seconds and helped him to the sofa in the room.”

Powell, the assistant principal, filed a Sept. 19, 2016, Georgia Professional Standards Commission ethics complaint against Malone. It included a copy of a Sept. 14, 2016, reprimand he sent Malone, alleging she failed to inform him of the boy’s condition:

“You knew the student was in pain and had sustained an injury but failed to inform the administrator as required by policy. Your handling of this situation was improper, unprofessional and must not be repeated.”

This past Sept. 8, Powell sued the school district in federal court, accusing it of discrimination and retaliation. He alleged it has harassed and threatened to demote him since he filed the complaint against Malone.

Powell has leaked surveillance video showing Mosley carrying Montravious to a school bus.

In the lawsuit, Powell said that when he was called to the classroom, he witnessed Montravious try to jump out a first-floor window, prompting Mosley to restrain the student. Powell then left to get campus security, he said.

When he returned, Montravious was sitting on a couch and appeared calm, Powell said, so he left the classroom, thinking the conflict had been resolved. He learned only from watching the 25-minute surveillance video the next day that Mosley had restrained Montravious again, and the boy had reported being injured, he said.

This story was originally published January 4, 2018 at 7:13 PM with the headline "Ledger-Enquirer sues for classroom video of student injured before leg amputation."