Costs, pressure mount in Prince William schools Twitter investigation

Prince William County leaders want to see the tweets.

The Board of County Supervisors voted 7-1 on Tuesday to direct County Attorney Michelle Robl to file a Freedom of Information Act records order demanding that at least 10,000 private, direct messages between students and Prince William County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Steven L. Walts be made public.

Walts’ Twitter account, which is followed by some 30,000 county public school students, has been the focus of an investigation by a private law firm hired by the school division in early March.

Guy Morgan, a county resident, and associate of former School Board Chairman Ryan Sawyers who resigned his position inexplicably about two years ago prompted the investigation by filing a complaint with the school division that alleges Walts was inappropriately used his Twitter account to communicate with students.

Morgan alleges Walts responded to a 9th-grade girl who asked Walts about when grades were due just before 11 p.m. He then continued to message the girl over the course of the following

day and tried to arrange to have her pulled from class so he could meet the student, said Morgan.

An independent investigation by Potomac Local News found Walts had been using Twitter to publically communicate with students during the evening and overnight hours, and during the school day. The school division’s electronic communications policy advises against using social media to communicate with students and requires a copy of correspondence to be sent to a parent or guardian.

Direct messages are automatically shielded from public view by Twitter. In the past two years, Walts has become a Twitter celebrity with students, as he would often post videos of himself announcing weather-related school closings while playing the piano.

Potomac Local News also found multiple instances where students would send messages to Walts asking him to date them, or to have sex with them. Walts did not respond to the vast majority of these messages.

The independent law firm, billing as much as $800 an hour, according to WTTG-TV, is expected to file a report with the school division in the coming weeks noting what it found during its review of Walts’ social media account. That report, expected to include findings on whether or not Walts is in violation fo the division’s communication policies, and how the division should move forward following the allegation, is slated to remain sealed from public view.

Prince William County Gainesville District Supervisor Peter Candland today successfully lobbied his Board to file a records order some 10,000 direct messages from Walts Twitter account, generated over the past 18 months be made available for public inspection.

Candland said his Board, which is independent of the county’s elected School Board, would not review the messages if they are made public.

“Just make them public for people to access to make up their own mind on the situation,” said Candland. “We’re not going to get involved and be judge and jury.”

Coles District Supervisor Yesli Vega supported Candland’s motion.

“I am a parent with children in the public school system and I am concerned,” said Vega.

Prince William Board of Supervisors Chair At-large Ann Wheeler was the only dissenting vote, saying she didn’t want to step on the School Board’s toes.

“I think that they’re handing it. I don’t want to jump into the School Board’s business,” said Wheeler.

Candland tells Potomac Local News that constituents who have filed their own records’ order with the Prince William school division have been hit with fees of up to $300 to obtain just 10 of the direct messages from Walts’ account.

“So you would think it would be in the thousands of dollars to get over 10,000 messages,” adds Candland.

It remains to be seen if the records will be released to the public following the conclusion of the investigation.

“The investigation is pending. The School Board will weigh the results of the investigation when it is completed,” said Prince William County School Board Chair At-large Dr. Babur Lateef told Potomac Local News. “We continue to maintain the confidentiality of all personnel matters.”

In addition to filing a records order, the Prince William Board of County Supervisors also voted 7-1 to request more information from the School Board about how it handled Morgan’s complaint. Wheeler, again, was the dissenting vote.

In a statement, Walts told the press he is a victim of a “partisan and personal attack.”

Former School Board Chairman Ryan Sawyers and Walts were at odds during most of Sawyers’ short tenure as Board Chairman. Weeks before he resigned, Sawyers demanded Walts resign his position, claiming the superintendent was not forthcoming with details about a car crash in which he was involved while driving a car belonging to the school division.

Walts has served as division superintendent since 2005.