Recorded phone calls between Columbus City Schools board member Brandon Simmons and two of his colleagues reveal he was not the only board member involved in the creation of a controversial document leaked to the public in May.
WOSU obtained via records request the audio recordings Simmons submitted to the Ohio Auditor’s Office. The recording files are labeled as “Tina Pierce and Brandon Simmons” and “Jennifer Adair and Brandon Simmons.”
Adair is currently a board member of the board and the former board president. Pierce is the current vice president.
Simmons has come under fire since May when the Columbus Education Association got hold of a divisive strategy document titled “Taking Control of the Task Force Narrative," that Simmons admitted he wrote.
The document suggested ways to weaken the Columbus Education Association after the group reacted negatively to a district plan to close some school buildings and dividing people on the issue based on their race.
The leak has stalled a plan to close several school buildings. Simmons has been critical of his colleagues since the leak and alleges the plan to close the buildings is "dead."
The files are phone calls between Simmons and the two board members that Simmons recorded while the other two were on speaker phone on separate calls. They appear to have taken place on the May weekend before the document Simmons wrote was leaked to the public through the Columbus Education Association.
Warning: these audio clips contain profanity.
Here is the phone call recording between Simmons and Pierce:
Here is the phone call recording between Simmons and Adair:
The conversations consist of Simmons and the two board members discussing the document leak by board member Sarah Ingles to the CEA. Simmons prods the two with questions about how to handle the situation.
The phone call with Adair confirmed it was Adair who shared the document with Ingles. Adair said she didn’t expect Ingles to share it elsewhere.
Adair said she shared it with Ingles because “it was presented to the superintendent. Any board member should know what other board members are presenting, especially if it’s to staff… and I sent it to her.”
Pierce and Simmons reference a meeting among five people including Simmons, Adair and two people named “Christina” and “Angela.” WOSU could not confirm whether those people were Superintendent Angela Chapman and Board President Christina Vera. It's unknown who the fifth person at the meeting was.
Pierce briefly described what was discussed in this meeting to Simmons.
“You (Simmons) were taking ideas from everybody. This was literally a briefing and not two, but one person, one person took it upon themselves to share this with somebody outside of our group,” Pierce said.
“We were all in the room. It was a variety of ideas,” Pierce told Simmons about the document.
Simmons and Pierce said the meeting at an earlier date was where the strategy document was disseminated to the five people.
Simmons told Pierce his “gut” was telling him just to tell the truth to the public and deal with the consequences.
Pierce responded with one word: “No.”
Pierce said if CEA President John Coneglio made the leak public on his own, the board would be able to “let the full story play out.”
“Nobody knows the full players that were in the room or who shared the document. The way that that becomes exposed is by John (Coneglio) making the public records request,” Pierce said.
Pierce said that public records request would ask who was in the meeting specifically. She said if Ingles and Coneglio release the information themselves and the board denied it, it would be two people who weren’t in the room making accusations.
Pierce implied that the public records request would be successful if Coneglio submitted it.
Pierce told Simmons that if he let this play out and let Coneglio make the records request, it would eventually come out that more than just Simmons was involved. She said this would benefit Simmons.
“You have to let it play out, because if you don't, you will be the only one that gets lynched in it. And if you let it play out, you will be the victim,” Pierce said.
Pierce argued that letting the story play out would be a smarter play.
“Right now, people are saying that Brandon ****** up without the context of who else was in the room,” Pierce said.
“It just feels like I'm going to be… by Tuesday, it will just be too late for me,” Simmons said.
WOSU has now submitted a public records request asking for the details of this meeting, including who was present and what it was about.
The only board member Simmons, Adair and Pierce explicitly said wasn’t in the meeting was Ingles. Simmons’ phone call with Adair confirmed that Adair shared the strategy document with Ingles with the intent of trying to include all board members in the conversation.
Board members Michael Cole and Ramona Reyes were not mentioned by Simmons, Adair and Pierce.
Pierce also told Simmons that he would likely be thrown under the bus, but that the board members would support him.
“I'm gonna tell you something that I tell my kids. I've never steered you wrong, and I will not steer you wrong. I am a very deep, logical thinker. What I am telling you now is to be still and let everything play out. Do not break this story,” Pierce said.
To this date, the board has censured Simmons. No board member has tried to defend him.
Simmons later told Pierce that there were copies of the strategy document at the board office at 270 E. State Street. Pierce told Simmons that he should go get those copies back from the people who had them.
During the phone call with Adair, Simmons found out Adair had given the document to Ingles. Adair expressed disbelief that Ingles had leaked the document saying “I don’t even know what the **** Sarah is doing.”
“I told Sarah, ‘like, you just created a ****storm. I mean, the way that our community views us anyway, this just makes us feel like we don't know again, what we're doing,” Adair said.
Adair said Ingles has “real big feelings” about Simmons and leaked the document to get Simmons off the board.
“I think that this is very strategic for her. And just the way she was talking, she feels like you are a danger to the board. And I think it was intentional… she intentionally didn't tell me, so I wouldn't be in it,” Adair said.
Simmons asked Adair who he thinks the dangerous person on the board is. Adair responded:
“**** at this point I don’t trust any of you.”
The phone call between Adair and Simmons lasted 11 minutes. The phone call between Pierce and Simmons lasted 38 minutes.
Simmons, Adair, Pierce, Ingles, Coneglio, Chapman and Vera did not respond to WOSU's request for comment.
In past press conferences, Simmons has declined to say or name other board members who were involved.
Earlier Monday, Simmons only announced he made a complaint to the Ohio Auditor, but did not release the recordings.
