Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Public Information Request

Ms. Cobbe:

I request as public information the file of black student Rene Anderson that records that assistant principal Kevin Messena of Riverview High School two years ago charged Ms. Anderson with assaulting him for brushing past him to escape from his office after his indecent proposal to her.

The board subsequently prosecuted the 16-year-old Ms. Anderson in Mr. Messena's behalf for his charge of her assaulting Mr. Messena. The court upheld the charge, and Ms. Anderson spent time on community service as a result.

The administration told her that she, an honors student, could not apply for scholarships and might be sent to an alternative school. They said it was the rule. May I see a copy of that rule?

She had to pay court costs of $3,000 despite her parents' not being rich.

To shield her from further retaliation by the board, the family moved to another city for her to finish high school. She is now in college, presumably without a scholarship.

The attorney general says that 48 hours is a reasonable time in which a public institution should respond to a public-information to a citizen.

Email me when you have the data in your office, and I will drive from the beach to see it or have you copy it with my payment if it is not too large a file.


Lee Drury De Cesare
15316 Gulf Blvd. 802
Madeira Beach, FL 33708
tdecesar@tampabay.rr.com