On the heels of the exposure of an extensive database of personal and derogatory information local parents say was collected by Scottsdale School Board President Jann-Michael Greenburg, Rep. Jake Hoffman (R-Queen Creek) told The Arizona Sun Times that Greenburg needs to resign.
“Parents in Scottsdale and across the state are mad as hell over this situation, and rightfully so,” he said. “These allegations are gravely concerning and should be investigated to the fullest extent. If true, Scottsdale Board President Jann-Michael Greenburg should resign in disgrace and be prosecuted for abuse of power. It is unacceptable and anti-American to compile dossiers on your political enemies, especially when those so-called enemies are the very people you were elected to serve.”
Parents of children in the Scottsdale Unified School District (SUSD) discovered that the president of the school district’s school board, Jann-Michael Greenburg, has a Google Drive database containing personal information about some of the parents he’d had conflicts with. Greenburg (who is shown to have edit permissions for the Drive) and his father, Mark (who is listed as the owner of the Drive) told The Scottsdale Independent they had no involvement or knowledge of the database.
Scottsdale parent Kim Stafford discovered the database accidentally, when the URL to the Google Drive showed up in a screenshot Greenburg to her. His email accused her of being anti-Semitic for comments she made about progressive billionaire activist, George Soros. The database, which the parents refer to as the “Scottsdale School Board enemies list” or “online dossier,” was open for viewing by anyone, although after The Independent contacted Greenburg about it, the permissions were removed.
The parents made a backup copy here.
The drive contains information about various parents, including photos, mortgage information, social security numbers, photos of their children, a divorce record, and financial records. Some of the folders are named “SUSD Wackos,” “Press Conference Psychos,” and “Anti Mask Lunatics.”
The Drive contains the opposition research against parent Amy Carney, who is currently a candidate running for the school board. Carney said most of the information on the Drive appeared to come from Greenburg’s father.
The Drive also contains bodycam footage taken by the elder Greenburg as he was observing parents protesting. In it, the footage captures him stating he had a private investigator “who’s writing down all of [the parents’ license] plates.” He brags that the parents can’t see him since he covered up his license plate and has a helmet and motorcycle gear on. He created an anonymous parody website about the school board that caused controversy in 2019.
Some of the content is inappropriate for general audiences, such as a meme showing a mom next to a black-and-white photo of a lynching. Much of the content is screenshots of online activity, such as Facebook posts in school-related groups.
Two other people have access to the drive, including SUSD governing board member Zachary Lindsay, who denied having any access or knowledge of it.
After being confronted with the evidence, Greenburg told The Independent, “Yes, people send me emails and text messages, but I don’t store them and I don’t know who stores them if that is what you are asking.”
Greenburg has come under criticism in the past for profanity and mask hypocrisy. In August, he muttered “Jesus f**king Christ, these people” after a parent stated during a school board meeting that perhaps Nazi propaganda found at a school had been placed there by the school officials, themselves, in order to make parents protesting look bad. Later that month, he was spotted at a bar without a mask after voting for a mask mandate.
The parents want Greenburg to resign. One parent is considering getting a restraining order against Greenburg. Some of the parents, including Amanda Wray, administrator for the SUSD Community Advocacy Network group on Facebook, believe it rises to the level of cyberstalking, which is a felony in Arizona. The database contains a meme with her photo that discusses her mortgages and homes and her opposition to mandatory COVID-19 vaccines.
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Rachel Alexander is a reporter at the Arizona Sun Times and The Star News Network. Follow Rachel on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
