Dallas ISD trustee Bernadette Nutall was cleared of wrongdoing in an investigation into whether she harassed a district administrator, according to an investigative report.
The investigation did not substantiate the harassment claims and dismissed reports that she acted unprofessionally with two other DISD employees. The report said those employees didn’t believe their interactions with Nutall warranted a review.
The report raises questions about Superintendent Mike Miles’ involvement in starting the investigation. Nutall and Miles have bumped heads, including an Oct. 13 incident in which Miles had DISD police throw Nutall out of Dade Middle School.
On Oct. 29, DISD hired an outside investigator, former U.S. Attorney Paul Coggins, to look into complaints that Miles said he had received from three employees. Coggins was expected to receive $30,000 for the investigation, but the final bill is not yet known. The district will also pay for Nutall’s legal bills.
One of the complaints about Nutall was based on a letter by Miles’ driver, Freddie Jackson. But Jackson told investigators he wrote the letter only because Miles asked him to do so for his records and that he didn’t intend for it to be construed as a complaint, according to the report.
Jackson stated that he didn’t feel bullied or harassed by Nutall, whom he considers a friend. But Miles told investigators that Jackson came to him with concerns and that Miles told him to put the complaint in writing if he felt bullied or harassed.
A complaint that stemmed from Assistant Superintendent Karon Cofield raised governance issues. She also indicated to Coggins that her letter wasn’t intended to be a complaint against Nutall.
The third issue was from human resources executive director Tonya Sadler Grayson on Oct. 22. In the complaint addressed to Miles, she wrote she felt threatened in a conversation with Nutall in June and feared coming in close contact with her.
Coggins found “insufficient evidence to support a finding of any board policy violations” by Nutall, who had vehemently denied the allegations.
Some trustees found the timing of the complaints suspicious. The allegations surfaced a few weeks after the Oct. 13 incident at Dade.
“Approximately a week or so later, we received letters from employees, coincidentally about the same time,” trustee Lew Blackburn said.
Trustees made the decision Monday to release the investigative report, with some saying it was a final report paid for by taxpayers and should be released. The district had written to trustees that the report was confidential.
Trustee Joyce Foreman said the district didn’t have a problem releasing the allegations against Nutall, but not so much the report clearing her.
“I am so happy that this board has made the decision that the public should have this information because the public paid for it,” Foreman said.
Trustees were unaware that Coggins was hired to investigate Nutall until about a week later. Miles has said he was unaware the district hired Coggins, and that the decision was made by general counsel Jack Elrod, to whom he forwarded the complaints.
Miles submitted the first employee complaint on Oct. 28 and two more the following day, according to district documents.
Sylvia Reyna, a former top DISD administrator, told The News that Miles contacted her after the Dade incident and said he wanted Nutall investigated. He asked her to tell investigators about an incident two years ago with Nutall. Reyna said she told Miles that the argument wasn’t a big deal.
Some trustees would like the issue addressed further in board policy. “We as a board need to look at the policy to make sure that this kind of situation does not happen in the future,” Foreman said.
A contract violation could be grounds for termination.
Trustees added the provisions for termination in his contract after earlier investigation by Coggins. In that investigation, Coggins found that Miles violated district policy by talking to a witness during an internal investigation and that he used a top administrator’s resignation letter” to generate positive publicity for himself and negative publicity for the board.” The letter, which was reported in the news media, harshly criticized Jones.
Miles received a letter of reprimand and was placed on a 90-day improvement plan.
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