Jury Must Decide Why Board Banned Publisher From School Grounds

ABINGDON, Va. – Did the Buchanan County School Board ban a newspaper publisher from school grounds to protect students? Or was the board’s 2006 resolution aimed at retaliating against Earl Cole for his critical articles on the county’s schools and individual board members?

A jury will take up those questions when it reconvenes today, after attorneys for Cole and the school board finished presenting evidence in the federal civil trial Wednesday.

Cole, who publishes a bi-weekly newspaper in Buchanan County, claims that the school board violated his First and Fourteenth Amendment rights in passing a resolution that restricted his access to the grounds of Buchanan County schools. He is seeking a declaration that the resolution is unconstitutional, and compensatory and punitive damages.

The Buchanan County School Board maintains that its members acted reasonably in limiting Cole’s access, responding to the concerns of teachers and parents of students who objected to Cole appearing on school grounds with a camera.

On Wednesday, attorneys for both sides pressed school board members on their mindsets and the information they had when they voted to ban Cole from school grounds in October 2006.

Most of the discussion focused on Cole’s forays onto the grounds of Riverview Elementary and Middle School on Oct. 2 and 13, 2006, when he waited with a camera under the shade of trees in front of the school. It was not the first time Cole had set foot on school grounds or inside a school building to pursue a story. Sometimes he signed in, sometimes he didn’t, according to testimony presented Wednesday.

On both occasions in October 2006, the Riverview principal, Melanie Hibbitts, approached Cole and told him he needed to check in; each time, Cole explained he was there to take photographs of the “fall decorations.”

In fact, Cole was pursuing a story he did not divulge to Hibbitts: Bill Crigger, a school board member, was taking his child to school there, even though he represented a different school district. On Oct. 13, Cole snapped a photo of Crigger in the parking lot, and ran a story critical of the official in his publication, The Voice.

Crigger, who testified Wednesday, slammed the story, saying “there was nothing in it that was true.” He mentioned the incident to Steve Hamro, then chairman of the school board, who was in the same master’s degree program as Crigger, advocating that the board take some unspecified action against Cole. Hamro said he would work on something, Crigger testified.

The Oct. 23, 2006, resolution, prepared by Hamro, declared Cole had repeatedly violated the schools’ policy of requiring visitors to sign in and had taken “illegal” photographs. It also noted the board’s obligation to protect students from “known criminals,” an apparent reference to Cole’s 1987 conviction for misdemeanor assault and battery.

The resolution passed 4-3. Immediately following the vote, Hamro directed the Buchanan County superintendent of schools to instruct all personnel not to comment on school business with anyone affiliated with The Voice, and to refer all questions to the superintendent, according to minutes of the Oct. 23 meeting introduced as evidence.

Hamro explained that this directive was in response to “the many things that have been reported and misreported” by The Voice, according to the minutes.

Michael Bragg, Cole’s attorney, asked Hamro whether he had his grievances with The Voice in mind when he voted in favor of banning Cole from school grounds, and why he singled out The Voice.

Hamro said he did not recall limiting his policy on communicating school business to The Voice, and insisted that his comments had “nothing to do with the previous motion” banning Cole from school grounds. He said he wanted to remove school officials from having to answer Cole, describing his publication as “where school officials are constantly criticized for the things that they do.”

All four of the school board members who voted to ban Cole from school grounds said they had heard from community members who were concerned about his presence there. As the school board’s attorney, Jim Guynn, finished presenting evidence Wednesday, he and Bragg entered into an agreement that several other witnesses would have testified that they had complained about Cole coming on to school grounds.

Guynn and Bragg will make their closing arguments today before the case goes to the jury.

dgilbert@bristolnews.com | (276) 645-2558

Editor's Note: This article was corrected on Oct. 15, 2009.