Judge grants PUSD’s request to ban Painted Rock Elementary parent from campus
A Superior Court judge in San Diego sided with the Poway Unified School District on Friday by imposing a three-year workplace violence restraining order against a volunteer parent.
The parent, Chris Garnier, was banned from volunteering at Painted Rock Elementary School where his two children , ages 7 and 8, attend classes, after district officials said he made verbal threats against school employees and exhibited menacing behavior.
Garnier has denied those allegations. His attorney, Genevieve Suzuki, said she plans to file a notice of appeal to the ruling on Monday with the state appeals court in San Diego.
“This is a miscarriage of justice,” she said. “If you say something distasteful, or something they don’t agree with, they can get a restraining order. This is a violation of a parent’s right to parent a child.”
In October, the district obtained a temporary restraining order against Garnier and filed a “strategic lawsuit against public participation” — or SLAPP action — seeking to keep him from lambasting school officials.
Garnier filed an anti-SLAPP motion, arguing the district was trying to violate his right to free speech.
San Diego Superior Court Judge Tamila E. Ipema rejected that motion last month, and ruled Friday that the 36-year-old Garnier should keep more than 100 yards away from Painted Rock, its Principal Mary Jo Thomas, and other district employees who testified feeling threatened by Garnier. A copy of the order says Garnier must stay away until Feb. 5, 2018.
Garnier, when reached by phone, said he is contemplating moving out of the Poway Unified School District. He has argued the district’s lawsuit is rooted in racism.
He said the mostly white district banned him from the school because he is an African-American and has criticized decisions made by Thomas. He said he volunteered at the campus for two years without problems until she arrived.
“Next week, my daughter is supposed to be the Statue of Liberty in her school’s play, and I will have to miss that,” Garnier said. “It hurts me for my children. I feel just disgusted and hurt. On the way home (from court), I cried with my wife.
“For the next three years of my life, I can’t be with my kids,” the choked up Garnier said.
Poway Unified has about 35,500 students. More than 18,000 are white and 884 are African-American.
In court filings, the district says Garnier, a former Marine and wounded war veteran, made verbal threats against school employees, including Painted Rock’s Thomas, and exhibited menacing behavior, such as pounding on car windows to get the attention of other parents, and disrupting a Sept. 23 community forum at Rancho Bernardo High School.
“It is Poway Unified School District’s mission and constitutional obligation to keep our schools safe for all students, staff and families. Safety is our number one priority,” district spokeswoman Jessica Wakefield said Friday. “Due to concerns that arose at Painted Rock Elementary earlier in the school year, the district used the appropriate legislative process to pursue legal safety measures.
Poway Unified School District will continue to ensure safety for all and promote a positive learning environment.”