Scottsdale Unified School District (SUSD) Governing Board will hold a special meeting on Monday to decide whether Board President Jann-Michael Greenburg must resign over his connection to a secret dossier on parents and other political opponents. Greenburg’s father, Mark Greenburg, was the owner of the Google Drive dossier, and Jann-Michael reportedly had access to it – as evidenced by the listing of his name among those granted access to the drive, and his sending a picture of the drive to one of the parents targeted within it.
As AZ Free News reported Thursday, there are other indicators that Jann-Michael may have had more involvement in the dossier than he’s let on, according to past admissions and discoveries of shared computer activity with his family and the nature of some of the dossier’s contents. On one of the bodycam videos on the dossier taken by Mark Greenburg, Mark is heard saying that he and another, unnamed individual hired a private investigator to spy on parents. Additionally, there were recordings on the dossier in which Jann-Michael and Mark could be heard conversing about Mark’s actions – and Jann-Michael doesn’t question why.
Board Member Dr. Libby Hart-Wells’ requested the special meeting to decide on the resignation of Greenburg. The request came around the same time that over 700 parents, elected officials, lawmakers, and community members signed onto a letter demanding Greenburg’s resignation. The letter is reproduced in its entirety below:
On November 9, 2021, The Scottsdale Independent published an article ‘The Greenburg Files: Is there a file on you?’ demonstrating the expansive and disturbing activities of Scottsdale Unified School District Governing Board President Jann-Michael Greenburg. The ‘Greenburg Files,’ discovered from an email sent directly from Mr. Greenburg’s SUSD email to a former SUSD parent, contains documents specifically surveilling at least 47 community members and numerous others peripherally. Our community is rightfully alarmed. This also comes on the heels of Mr. Greenburg saying, ‘Jesus f****** Christ, you people’ twice during parents’ public comments and disrespecting a requested moment of silence at the August 24, 2021 governing board meeting. As evidenced on the Greenburg Google Drive, during that meeting Mr. Greenburg’s father, Mark Greenburg, was photographing and videotaping children in the parking lot of Coronado High School as they waited to give those public comments stating ‘We’ have hired a private investigator to surveil the parents.
The ‘Greenburg Files’ contain many disturbing documents, audio files, and video recordings of several individuals, including photos of SUSD students. There is no legitimate purpose for any of these background checks, deeds, marital records, financial documents, professional certifications and more to be curated, stored, and shared in such a manner by Mr. Greenburg. The files also contain un-redacted SUSD emails shared with drive editors and viewers and screenshots that included open district email tabs – bringing even more concern that SUSD resources may have been shared or used outside of their intended or legally allowed purposes. Additionally, during the August 17, 2021 Special Governing Board Meeting, Mr. Greenburg admitted to working under the name ‘Mark Greenburg’ on his computer making clear he works under multiple names on his computer.
We are committed to returning excellence, integrity, and trust to our community and the negative and appalling words and actions from this official who was elated to serve this community. We are horrified that such unkind, divisive, and disrespectful behavior has been exhibited against members of our own community, including adults and children.
We believe that hate, harassment, bullying, stalking, and intimidation are not part of SUSD. We seek a restoration of SUSD’s values: Excellence, Integrity, Empathy, Trust, Inclusion, and Unity.
The SUSD Governing Board policies are clear regarding ethics of the board and are outlined by BCA Board Member Ethics. This policy includes: setting positive examples of good citizenship by scrupulously observing the letter and spirit of the laws, rules, and regulations; maintaining a deep sense of social responsibility as a trusted public servant; dedication to the highest ideals of honor, ethics, and integrity in all public and personal relationships; conducting oneself so as to maintain public confidence in the governance of the District and in the performance of the public trust; using the power and resources of public office only to advance public interest, and to not attain personal benefit or pursue any other private interest incompatible with the public good.
We are looking to you to uphold these standards of ethics in spite of Mr. Greenburg’s repeated failure to do so. His actions have made it unequivocally clear that he is unfit for public office. The manner in which you respond will reflect on SUSD and the City of Scottsdale. We stand together in requesting the immediate termination of Jann-Michael Greenburg as SUSD Governing Board President, and we further demand his resignation as an SUSD Governing Board Member.
Signed by other 700 parents, students, teachers, grandparents, alumni, and community members[.]
This latest discovery comes on the heels of a contentious year for Greenburg. In August, Greenburg enjoyed a maskless night at a bar after pushing for mask mandates in his schools. The board president chalked criticism of his decision to not mask up a “baseless attack.”
A few days before that incident, as the demand letter cited, Greenburg uttered an expletive into a hot mic directed at aggrieved parents.
“Jesus f**king Christ, people,” said Greenburg.
In May, Greenburg shut down a meeting over “belligerent parents,” in reference to those parents who’d shown up to discuss or protest masking and Critical Race Theory (CRT) in the district.
The special meeting to determine Greenburg’s continuance on the board is scheduled for Monday, November 15, at 6 p.m. at SUSD’s administration building.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
More questions of Scottsdale Unified School District Governing Board President Jann-Michael Greenburg’s involvement in a secret dossier of parents and other political opposition created by his father, Mark Greenburg, have arisen due to a documented history of him sharing a computer with his family members. Jann-Michael has denied any knowledge of or connection with the dossier. However, there are two instances in the past where his shared computer activity became evident.
In an August school board meeting, Jann-Michael admitted that his brother, also named Mark, was the one who set up his Microsoft Word account. He didn’t explain further why his brother’s profile and name continued to be on his computer.
“[M]y brother originally set up my Microsoft Word – my brother’s name is Mark Greenburg that is why it says Mark Greenburg as opposed to my name Jann-Michael Greenburg,” stated Jann-Michael.
SUSD's Greenburg's Claims Raise More Questions. Who's really using Jann-Michael Greenburg’s computer? He claims his father created the G-Files, but in a previous school board meeting, he claimed that although his brother's name showed up on the material, he was the actual author. pic.twitter.com/I6eHmRoXAa
Nearly 50 parents and political opponents were targeted in the dossier, which reads like opposition research (“oppo research” for short) – a practice of gathering intelligence on political opponents. Folders were either given the names of their subjects, themes of where they fell in his mind (such as “crazy” or “faith-based”), or musings of what kinds of action the creator could take with their contents: for example, “false and defamatory” follows after the names of some parents.
This wouldn’t be Mark’s first foray into conducting oppo research and attacks against Jann-Michael’s political enemies. According to AZ Central, Mark created a parody website and Twitter account in 2018 for previous SUSD Governing Board President Barbara Perleberg. At the time, Jann-Michael was running to join the board; Perleberg wasn’t a candidate. Jann-Michael defended the website, and criticized Perleberg for initially pursuing a defamation lawsuit against his father.
That would count as the second instance of shared computer activity. According to a court subpoena, Mark’s computer was also used to purchase the website for Jann-Michael’s campaign. Yet, Mark denied both purchasing the website for and being involved in his son’s campaign.
That parody website is still active, though the Twitter account was deleted. In fact, it appears that Mark (or another individual granted access to the site) continued to post on the blog after Jann-Michael’s election; the latest post was published August 2020.
YIKES: Here's the father of Scottsdale Unified school board president Jann-Michael Greenburg, secretly taking bodycam footage of parents on school property and saying he hired a "private investigator who is writing down all their [license] plates." pic.twitter.com/CXt5dJDtKg
Mark’s latest creation, the dossier, went into great detail. Beyond collections of political Facebook posts, Mark collected records of nursing licenses, divorces, mortgages, family trees, bankruptcies, civil and criminal charges, and a slew of other personal information. It appears that Mark went so far as to file a complaint against one nurse for opposing masks, according to a screenshot. He also included pictures and videos of the children of his perceived political opposition. Mark made sure to note in one file name that the wife of one of his political opponents had an elementary school student. The associated picture was from a social media post highlighting the child’s disability.
Parents and children weren’t the only targets: acclaimed black conservative radio host James T. Harris appeared in the dossier. Harris’s picture with children outside a school board meeting was included, as well as a video he’d posted. Harris addressed his inclusion in a video on Wednesday, likening the dossier to another incident recently uncovered in Chandler where Chandler Unified School District (CUSD) board members coordinated with police to address parents against masks.
“Today on my radio show I found out how deep this thing goes,” said Harris. “Why do these school board members feel the necessity to get information on tax-paying citizens. All we want to do is make sure that our kids are being taught, […] that our kids aren’t being indoctrinated.”
One of the mothers targeted, Amy Carney, called for Jann-Michael’s resignation. A mother of six, Carney is also running for a seat on SUSD’s governing board in 2022.
“I am calling for the immediate resignation of our board president Jann-Michael Greenburg,” asserted Carney. “We cannot allow anyone in a leadership position to secretly compile personal documents and information on moms and dads who have dared speak out publicly or on social media about their grievances with the district.”
Another mother, Heather Rooks, was in complete shock upon discovering the dossier.
“Calls into question: who the real domestic terrorists are here?” said Rooks. “I didn’t know anything about this until late last night. Me and my husband looked it over. It was pretty shocking to see that much information on a file about multiple parents… I wouldn’t even know where to begin because I’m still processing it. I get it, with people who are running for school boards now, but this is completely different. This is parents and their kids, background information, very personal stuff that is all shared on the file. What was he planning on doing with it? What purpose does this serve, to go after parents who are concerned for their kids?”
After the Greenburgs were confronted about the dossier, reports show that someone changed accessibility from public to private. SUSD confirmed in an email to parents on Wednesday that Mark was behind the dossier. They also assured parents that their privacy would be protected.
The dossier does have one other direct tie to Jann-Michael: a PDF download of an email sent to Jann-Michael’s SUSD email account through Outlook, a web app often used by professionals and organizations for email and file storage. The PDF download identified Jann-Michael as the original source – all of the emails and links are clickable, which occurs when an email is downloaded as a PDF from Outlook. The bottom of the PDF also shows the source as this link, https://mail.susd.org/owa/#path=/mail/inbox, which is an SUSD professional email account.
Legal experts say that the dossier may be a violation of Arizona’s Parents Bill of Rights. In a statement, lawyer Alexander Kolodin explained that even Jann-Michael’s tacit consent of certain personal items in the dossier such as those obtained through Mark’s bodycam video would pose a violation.
“These allegations are deeply troubling, especially as concerns the photography of a minor child without parental consent and the taking down of license plate numbers of parents who Mr. Greenberg supposedly perceived as political opponents. Mr. Greenberg is an elected member of the school board. If such a photograph was taken with his express or tacit consent, he would potentially be liable for violations of Arizona’s Parents’ Bill of Rights, which recognizes a parent’s “fundamental” right to consent before the government makes a video or voice recording of the minor child. In addition, it has been reported that Mr. Greenberg’s father undertook these acts while he kept his face hidden under a helmet and was wearing motorcycle gear. Both Arizona and the federal government have laws prohibiting both intimidation generally and voter intimidation in particular such as ARS Titles 13 and 16, the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871, the Civil Rights Act of 1957, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. If these allegations are true, Mr. Greenberg and his father might be liable for violating one or more of these laws – though it is difficult to say from the limited facts that have been reported and they must, of course, be presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.“
The dossier also included multiple uncategorized bodycam videos recorded by Mark doing various things: eating in a cafe, riding his motorcycle, and even waiting outside a school board meeting. In one video, Mark adjusted his motorcycle gear with his helmet on.
The incognito Mark then walks into a kitchen, where Jann-Michael is seen eating at a table; he looks up at Mark and says “Hi, Dad.” The conversation that follows sounded like Mark and Jann-Michael were talking about legal strategy about a parent.
“We can file a verified complaint,” said Mark. “In other words, like it would start out with her allegation about Frank Graham saying, ‘Of course this isn’t true.’ She messaged Frank Graham.”
“Why not just go solely on the complaint that she filed?” asked Jann-Michael.
“That’s in her letter,” said Mark. “Way before that are her statements about how she’s, like, doing anything she can do to, like, ruin you.”
Jann-Michael received a law degree from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. He passed the New York Bar upon returning to the U.S., and assumed a position as Director of Legal Services at an international music licensing firm based in Arizona: Tresona, the company his father chairs.
In one screen recording of a parent advocacy Facebook group, Mark and Jann-Michael were recorded discussing what Mark was doing. Mark explained that he was recording Facebook parent commentary on Jann-Michael’s critics and political opponents.
“I’m making a movie, a screen movie for you,” explained Mark.
Jann-Michael doesn’t question why. That’s consistent with his other responses to Mark’s actions against political opponents. Jann-Michael hasn’t questioned why his father would create the dossier. He’s only categorically denied his involvement.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
The Scottsdale Unified School District’s administration is scrambling to do damage control after a group of mothers discovered Governing Board President Jann-Michael Greenburg had access to a Google Drive full of personal information, documents, and photos of about 47 people, including children.
An email sent out Wednesday evening by the SUSD’s Communications Office sought to assure families that their personal and educational data is safe. However, the district also solely blamed the discovered digital dossier* site on Mark Greenburg, the father of Jann-Michael Greenburg.
The damage control appears to be too little too late for many parents in the Scottsdale Unified School District, including Amy Carney, a mother of six, who is among those calling for Greenburg to step down.
“I am calling for the immediate resignation of our board president Jann-Michael Greenburg. We cannot allow anyone in a leadership position to secretly compile personal documents and information on moms and dads who have dared speak out publicly or on social media about their grievances with the district,’ said Carney, who is running for a seat on the Scottsdale Governing Board in November 2022.
Even though Mark Greenburg is listed as the Google Drive owner, records from an Aug. 17 special SUSD board meeting show Jann-Michael admitted sharing a computer with Mark. With Mark and Jann-Michael sharing a computer and a home, there is no way to know which of them has been uploading files (now known as the “G Files”) to the drive, according to concerned parents.
In addition, some parents say that despite Jann-Michael’s denial of involvement with the dossier, they believe there appears to be evidence that Jann-Michael has complete knowledge of the Google Drive files and had shared some of its contents in an effort to intimidate SUSD parents. Parents are calling that an “unacceptable abuse of power.”
The Google Drive files also included information on parents from neighboring school districts, as well as popular conservative radio show host, James T. Harris.
“We request President Greenburg’s resignation from the Governing Board effective immediately for this and other recent embarrassments to our district,” Carney said.
Attorney Alexander Kolodin of the Davillier Law Group expressed his concerns about the situation with the Scottsdale Unified School District.
“These allegations are deeply troubling, especially as concerns the photography of a minor child without parental consent and the taking down of license plate numbers of parents who Mr. Greenberg supposedly perceived as political opponents,” Kolodin said. “Mr. Greenberg is an elected member of the school board. If such a photograph was taken with his express or tacit consent, he would potentially be liable for violations of Arizona’s Parents’ Bill of Rights, which recognizes a parent’s ‘fundamental’ right to consent before the government makes a video or voice recording of the minor child.”
But Kolodin says there are more concerns beyond the mere existence of the Google Drive file, including reports that Jann-Michael Greenberg’s father engaged in some acts while keeping his face hidden under a helmet and while wearing motorcycle gear.
“Both Arizona and the federal government have laws prohibiting both intimidation generally and voter intimidation in particular such as ARS Titles 13 and 16, the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871, the Civil Rights Act of 1957, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965,” Kolodin said. “If these allegations are true, Mr. Greenberg and his father might be liable for violating one or more of these laws – though it is difficult to say from the limited facts that have been reported and they must, of course, be presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.”
*Because of the personal and sensitive information it contains, AZ Free News is not posting the dossier at this time.
After another long week of defending his decision to impose mask mandates for Scottsdale Unified School District (SUSD) students, Governing Board President Jann-Michael Greenburg hung out at a bar maskless last Saturday.
When asked, Greenburg told other reporters via email that confusion over his enjoying a maskless night at the bar while imposing mask mandates at SUSD was nothing more than a “baseless attack.”
“This video is another baseless attack by people whose agenda is to destroy public education and discourage people from serving,” said Greenburg. “It won’t work.”
The CDC cautions that pregnant women are at more of an increased risk for severe illness from COVID-19.
Just a few days earlier, Greenburg cursed at concerned parents during a board meeting. Greenburg later apologized, saying he let his frustration get the better of him.
“Jesus f***ing Christ, people,” muttered Greenburg on the hot mic.
Greenburg hasn’t been the only pro-mask mandate public education leader caught enjoying a maskless social life as of late. Arizona Superintendent Kathy Hoffman attended a baby shower maskless and without adhering to social distancing. None of the other guests wore masks or socially distanced themselves, either.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
Scottsdale Unified School District (SUSD) announced it will require masks on buses – a direct violation of state law prohibiting school-enforced mask mandates. SUSD claimed that CDC authority was greater than the state’s authority. They cited the CDC order requiring masks on public transportation. SUSD claimed that this order not only applied to public school transportation – but private schools as well.
“There was a specific question regarding whether [the CDC order] applied to school buses […] the CDC confirmed that the order applies to school buses, whether they are operated by the district or by a private provider,” wrote SUSD. “SUSD will be complying with this federal requirement. Students who choose to ride the bus, along with SUSD bus drivers, will be required to wear masks while on the bus. Students are not required to wear masks while waiting at a bus stop or after they disembark, and drivers are not required to wear masks if not students are on the bus.”
SUSD parent Amanda Wray tweeted a screenshot of SUSD’s district-wide email announcing the mask mandate on Friday.
“It’s official, masks required on buses! @ScottsdaleUSD sat on this announcement as long as they could. Operated summer school and camp buses without masks, so what changed?” asked Wray.
Earlier this month, the Arizona legislature banned mask mandates within its K-12 budget. The legislation prohibited schools from requiring masks during school hours or on any school property. The move followed the governor’s decision in April to rescind the order mandating masks in schools.
On the same day of SUSD’s announcement, Ducey doubled down on the assertion that there wouldn’t be any mask mandates in schools. In his pleadings with Arizonans to get vaccinated, he stated that the vaccines made mandates unnecessary.
“We will not be listening to the lockdown lobby. Businesses will stay open. Students will be able to attend school. There will be no mask mandates,” said Ducey. “We have a proven solution with the vaccine. I strongly encourage every Arizonan who is eligible for the vaccine to get it so they can protect themselves and our whole state.”
Ducey didn’t respond to news of SUSD’s mask mandate.
At least one other lawmaker took notice. State Senator Michelle Ugenti-Rita (R-Scottsdale) responded to parents concerned over SUSD’s decision to break state law with a mask mandate. Ugenti-Rita accused SUSD of siding with the Biden Administration and socialism by imposing an unauthorized mask mandate.
“Why is @ScottsdaleUSD insistent on pushing the socialist agenda of the @JoeBiden administration…” wrote Ugenti-Rita. “If there ever was a better argument for school choice the Democrats are making it now! #LeaveOurKidsAlone[.]”
This latest announcement comes on the heels of another controversial act undertaken by SUSD. As AZ Free News reported on Thursday, SUSD offered to send students an emotional health and wellness screening that asked for personal information, medical history or information, mental health history or information, quality of home and interpersonal relationship information, student biometric information, gun or ammunition ownership, and any relatives’ illegal, antisocial, or self-incriminating behaviors.
Students as young as kindergarteners were eligible to participate in this screening. Concerned parents asked SUSD about the screening description. SUSD officials responded that the description was part of a standard waiver form that wasn’t tailored for SUSD use, and that the screener wouldn’t acquire any of the information listed on the description.
Corinne Murdock is a contributing reporter for AZ Free News. In her free time, she works on her books and podcasts. Follow her on Twitter, @CorinneMurdock or email tips to corinnejournalist@gmail.com.
