DETROIT — Elena Dinverno hoped to stay in her dream job as marketing director for Blake's Hard Cider until she retired, but she was abruptly fired seven days before Christmas in 2020.
Meredith McCutcheon never expected two police officers to confront her at her Rochester, Michigan, home five months earlier, ordering her daughter to remain inside while she was questioned about an email that she said she never sent.
Dinverno and McCutcheon are parents whose criticisms of the Rochester Community Schools prompted a stunning backlash from administrators that changed their outlook on the district and their lives.
Their revelations and others — one staffer spent as much as 70% of her full-time job compiling dossiers on parents — show how widespread efforts were by the district to contain one of the early controversies of the pandemic.
The two Rochester mothers have several things in common: They were part of a sizable contingent of parents who advocated for in-person classes during the first fall of the COVID-19 pandemic, and both ran afoul of school district leaders who branded them and other parents “protesters,” surveilled theirs and other parents’ social media, and compiled dossiers.
The dossiers contained personal information about district parents, such as their place of employment, the names of their children and which schools their children attended and in some cases were shared with the district's lawyers.
The district in at least four instances took further action, calling Dinverno’s and at least one other parent’s employer and sending the police to McCutcheon’s home.
When Dinverno, 47, was fired on Dec. 18, 2020, she said she was told by a Blake’s Hard Cider manager it was because a school board member called to complain about her advocacy. Despite the district’s initial insistence McCutcheon be charged with making a threat against the district, police closed the investigation. She was not charged with a crime.
"I was shocked, devastated. ... It pretty much rocked my world," Dinverno told The Detroit News about her firing. She said it sent shock waves through her home, putting stress on her marriage, her family life and their livelihood.
"I had hoped this would be the career I would stay in until I was ready to retire," Dinverno said.
The mothers have one more thing in common. They both received cease-and-desist letters from the district’s law firm threatening to sue them. Dinverno’s letter came about three weeks after Christmas in January 2021, accusing her of falsely saying that a school board member was calling the employers of parents. The letter claimed her statements were "injurious to the Board" and had sparked calls for retaliation against one board member.
But, in fact, it wasn't a school board member who had called her employer, depositions and documents obtained by The News show. It was Deputy Superintendent Debi Fragomeni who had called Blake's, and both Fragomeni and then-school board president Kristin Bull were aware of the call that occurred weeks before district attorney Jeremy Chisholm sent the cease and desist letter.
The News first reported two weeks ago Superintendent Robert Shaner’s admission in a deposition that parents’ social media were being monitored. That report has prompted dozens of other Rochester parents to demand accountability from the school board; several urged the resignation of Shaner, several of his staff and the board.
School board secretary Joe Pittel has said the revelations show the district needs a compliance officer reporting directly to the board and who would ensure the district complies with its policies and acts ethically.
‘Students in distress’
Fragomeni testified in a December deposition that she called Blake's Hard Cider on Nov. 6, 2020, "as a friend" of the owners to reveal that Dinverno was collecting video testimonies of students "in distress" from remote learning that had been in place since shortly after the pandemic began in March.
"I wanted them to know that there was a parent associated with their business that was seeking to provide videos of students in distress," Fragomeni testified, later adding: "Blake's would not ever want children to be solicited under distress."
Fragomeni, who was a teacher before rising to one of the top posts in the district, testified she contacted Andrea Blake, the daughter of Blake's Hard Cider owners Andrew and Sandy Blake, to obtain Sandy Blake's phone number. Fragomeni said she knew Andrea Blake from when she was a student-teacher and knew Sandy Blake because they once taught together. After Fragomeni reported Dinverno to Sandy Blake, she was asked by Sandy Blake to speak about Dinverno to her husband, Andrew, she testified.
Dinverno said after that call, she was called into a meeting with a Blake’s human resources manager and asked to explain her involvement. Dinverno said she was told to be careful about what she was saying online.
After she was fired weeks later, Dinverno sued the school district in U.S. District Court alleging the district unlawfully restricted her free speech. That lawsuit was settled last month, although terms have not been disclosed. The depositions stem from Dinverno’s lawsuit.
"The parties in the Dinverno litigation mutually agreed to resolve the matter," district spokeswoman Lori Grein said in a statement. "They also agreed as part of the settlement that the only public comment they would make is that they agreed to settle their differences; consequently, we are not able to discuss it."
Dinverno’s attorney, Deborah Gordon, said she could not discuss the settlement. In a statement on her law firm's Facebook page, she wrote: "Free speech is a basic right that all citizens should regularly exercise, especially at the local level. Our firm is happy we were able to assist in bringing the truth to the public."
The News sent a series of questions to Blake's and the company released a statement from an attorney that did not directly address those questions.
"The recent reports about Ms. Dinverno’s lawsuit and its connection to her previous employment with Blake’s are inaccurate," wrote attorney Scott Eldridge of Miller Canfield. "And at no time did Blake’s ever discourage Ms. Dinverno from expressing her personal views on social media. Rather, Blake’s supported Ms. Dinverno’s individual expression. Ms. Dinverno was dismissed from Blake’s for entirely separate and unrelated, performance reasons."
Gordon disputes that characterization of Dinverno’s firing.
"Andrew Blake told Ms. Dinverno that her position was no longer necessary, and he offered to provide her with recommendations," Dinverno's attorney said. "He did not mention performance. Ms. Dinverno’s personnel record does not state that she was terminated due to performance."
Cease-and-desist
Gordon asked Fragomeni during her deposition about why the district sent a cease-and-desist letter to Dinverno when it knew that the substance of her claim — that the district called parents' employers — was accurate.
"So you let my client receive a letter from a law firm threatening her when she didn't make a mistake at all?" Gordon asked. "You stood by and allowed my client to be called out, right?"
"Correct," Fragomeni responded.
Gordon asked Bull during her deposition why she approved the January letter knowing Fragomeni had called Dinverno's workplace two months earlier in November.
"The goal was to stop the spreading of the false accusation that the board called — that the board was calling employers," Bull said.
"Did it occur to you that ... the easiest and most honest way to correct that was to simply let Elena Dinverno know that it was actually the assistant superintendent who had called her employer and that she would understand that and realize that what the HR director had told her was not exactly correct?" Gordon asked.
"I didn't consider that, no," Bull said.
Fragomeni and Bull declined requests to be interviewed Wednesday through Grein, the district spokeswoman. Reached by phone Thursday, Bull declined to comment. She would not address whether the district plans to cease monitoring parents' social media in the future.
'It's what we do. We monitor'
Grein described in detail in her deposition how the district monitored parents.
Amy DiCresce, the district's public affairs specialist who reports to her, spends 60% to 70% of her day monitoring parents' social media, including private Facebook groups started by parents in the district, Grein testified.
Grein said part of her job — at the request of Shaner — is to pull video clips of parents speaking at school board meetings and send those videos along with the parents' social media posts to district attorneys. Gordon told The News some of these instances led to cease-and-desist letters, and that she is aware of four such letters, including the one Dinverno received.
Gordon asked Grein about a Jan. 11, 2021, email with 165 screenshots attached that she sent to Bull and Fragomeni with the subject line, "Accusation and assumptions, attachments, protesters." The email includes personal information about parents, the names of their children, which schools they attend, the parent's employer and phone numbers.
"Amy has done an amazing job documenting information," Grein wrote in the email.
Grein told Gordon she does not remember the email but does remember compiling information.
"But we compile information on so much. You have to understand, this isn't just — we — we — it's what we do. It's what we do. We monitor," Grein said. "What we do is get a pulse of the community on so much. This is just one part of what we do."
Grein was part of a Nov. 5, 2020, email chain between Bull and Shaner titled "Children in distress." It discussed Dinverno's plans to create the videos to protest remote learning.
Grein wrote: "How horrifying for these children. Once again they are calling for videos of kids in distress. I know parents are giving permission for this, but can't we supersede in protecting these poor kids?"
"I believe that any child in distress should not be publicly exposed in such a manner," Grein said.
Gordon asked her: "But you have no idea what these kids were going to say and whether they wanted to talk and express their feelings; you don't know that, do you?"
"No," Grein responded.
‘You can't keep parents quiet’
Dinverno said knowing the district spied on her and other parents in private Facebook groups and created dossiers with her name and the names of other parents has driven her to stand up for herself and other parents' First Amendment rights.
"We have the ability and right to use our speech to voice our opinions," Dinverno told The News. "Seeing what I have gone through, what other people have gone through, I have been retaliated against, they have used this as an intimidation tactic to keep us quiet is very disheartening, especially when you move into a community because you love the schools...
"You can't keep parents quiet. That is what makes a school district — parent involvement and parent choice."
Gordon, who has a national reputation for her work in employment and civil rights cases, said she took the unusual step of sending the entire school board a summary of the evidence she found in the case because she is concerned some elected officials do not know the facts that led to the lawsuit and settlement.
"You need to stay abreast of what is happening and try to have some accountability," Gordon said. "I've seen the wheels come off with regards to the conduct of public officials because there is no watchdog."
What led police to McCutcheon's home was her decision to spend the early summer of 2020 trying to determine school reopening plans. She sent emails to school officials, posted inquiries to other parents on a Facebook page that she administered — Parent Advocates for Rochester School — and sent messages through the district's platform "Talk To Me" for parent communications to district officials.
In July, she organized a Zoom meeting to encourage parents to join a letter-writing campaign to the district. They were seeking answers about school reopening plans and asked for a town hall so parents could have two-way communication with district leaders.
About six days later, two uniformed Rochester police officers stood at her door, asking her to step onto the porch and saying her seventh-grade daughter needed to remain inside their home.
They told her someone using her name sent an email on the "Talk To Me" platform deemed "threatening" by Shaner. The platform allowed people to use any name and information in filling out fields on an online form that generated an email. The district has since changed its system.
“I will cause chaos in the district,” the email read. “I will get what I want. You will listen to my demands and that of my forum. Extend the deadline to Aug. 4, 2020. The parents deserve more time. We will hold out as long as necessary to suit our needs."
McCutcheon told the police she did not send the email.
"They asked if I had ever sent a threat. I was completely shocked," McCutcheon said. "I told them I did run this parents advocate group and we ask for things ... but we don't tolerate threats."
Shaner said during his deposition he did not attempt to speak with McCutcheon before calling the police.
The email was sent from an address that was a misspelling of McCutcheon's usual email address.
McCutcheon, who owns a travel agency and specializes in Disney vacation planning, said she was upset someone was threatening the district.
"We have had so much communication over the years, I couldn't imagine they thought it was me," McCutcheon said. "At times it got slightly heated. It was never unprofessional, never personal.
“...I knew they didn't like me. They don't like people criticizing them — period."
The same day the police came, Shaner sent a districtwide email informing the community a threat was sent using a moderator of a parent advocates page.
"Everybody knew that was me," McCutcheon said. "Anybody who knew me knew I did not send this."
Shaner has declined through Grein several requests to speak to The News.
Grein, in a statement, said, "The safety and well-being of our students, staff, and families is always our priority. Recent tragic experiences of school violence in other districts demonstrate the importance and responsibility of any school district to take threats seriously, report them to law enforcement, and ensure the safety of students, teachers, staff, and the community."
McCutcheon said she obtained the police report and saw that Shaner told police he wanted to press charges for the email she said she didn’t send.
"I went (to) the board and asked them to work with me and establish an anti-retaliation protocol. That was December 2020," McCutcheon said. "Silence. That's what I got."
Dinverno has since pulled her two children out of Rochester schools. They attend a private school.
McCutcheon’s children remain in the district, but she said Shaner must step down.
"There is no question. The level of involvement and the discrepancies between his testimony and those of other officials," she said.
"I do feel like we can repair this community and we can get back to where we were. We need a change in leadership for that to happen," McCutcheon said.
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