TWINSBURG, Ohio — A father and daughter’s fight for answers is nearly over after her school transcripts were changed three years ago. They sued the Twinsburg School District when a public records request for information was never filled. The family said the district lacked transparency, and a judge said they’re right.
“I work very, very hard in school and academically, and I want to do well and learn,” said Dakota Gordon. In the spring of 2022, Dakota Gordon was preparing to graduate from Twinsburg High School, but according to her family’s lawsuit, her “transcript contained a number of errors…incorrect sums for the credits…and an inaccurate grade point average.”
“It was definitely very anxiety-inducing because I was thinking about my colleges and my scholarships,” said Dakota Gordon.
FATHER FILED PUBLIC RECORDS REQUEST
Her father, Andrew Gordon, filed a public records request asking “who processed a change and the date of the change….” That set off a long back-and-forth fight, including “four different versions of Dakota’s transcript, ”according to their lawsuit. “And then we would get another email, would you believe it’s this GPA?” said Andrew about that process.
The judge in the case noted the previous Twinsburg Superintendent Kathi Powers told Andrew Gordon “that Twinsburg did not have access to certain information…(and) did not have a way to specifically identify who may have entered certain information…,” according to the judge’s decision in the case.
“If the district doesn’t know how someone’s transcript or grade gets changed, that would be a huge data issue,” Andrew Gordon told us.
JUDGE: DISTRICT DID FIND OUT
By August of 2022, the judge noted Twinsburg did, in fact, find out that a counselor “modified Dakota Gordon’s records…however, Twinsburg did not communicate this information (to) Andrew at this time.”
“That makes me angry,” said Andrew Gordon, “because we’re here at three years later and this could have been solved in three months.”
Also, back in August of 2022, Andrew Gordon filed another public records request about an error concerning a course his daughter took. The judge noted “…it is undisputed that no records were ever provided” on that request.
JUDGE RULES IN FAMILY'S FAVOR
So, in the end, she ruled in favor of the Gordon family, forcing the district to pay $1,000 and pay the Gordons’ attorney fees, which will be settled in a hearing next week. “(I feel) just vindicated that the judge also saw what was going on here,” said Andrew Gordon.
News 5 Investigators have reached out to the Twinsburg School District multiple times, but have not received a response. The school board president said the board will issue a statement after the case is done.
Andrew told us the district wasted taxpayers' money. “No one should be denied a public records request. They should be filled. They should be filled quickly,” said Andrew Gordon.
“I hope, to the future students of Twinsburg, that they get better outcomes. That’s all I hope,” said Dakota Gordon.
ALSO: QUESTIONS ABOUT SUPER'S RESIGNATION
In the process of researching this story, we filed some public records requests of our own, looking into the sudden resignation this summer of Powers.
Here’s what we learned. The school board president sent an internal memo with the subject line “Complaint involving Kathi Powers.” It was labeled “For your eyes only” and “Confidentiality is critical” and requested the board members meet 20 minutes away in Brecksville to discuss the complaint. Powers resigned shortly thereafter.
The school board president still won’t say what the complaint was about.
We contacted Powers, and she said neither the complaint nor the Gordons' lawsuit had anything to do with her resignation, that she left “…after a significant personal loss and after having reached 35 years of public education service.”
