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UPDATE -Newark Memorial High School Athletic Booster Club lawsuit

MEDIA ADVISORY 2

August 16, 2013

5:00 PM

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CONTACT:    Jennifer R. Snyder, Esq.

Ph. 510-573-1043

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Fax 510-573-3156

(Newark, CA) – UPDATE –

Newark Memorial High School Cougar Booster Club is a local organization formed for purposes of raising funds to support the Newark Memorial High School athletic programs.  Membership is comprised mostly of parents or guardians of Newark Memorial High School students.

In June of 2013, after an exhaustive effort to work with the Booster Club and Newark School District to effect change in the lack of transparency and accountability within the ranks of the Booster Club, Plaintiff Jennifer Snyder, on behalf of the Booster membership brought suit against Stacy Kelly, in her capacity as Booster President, for breach of fiduciary duties, negligence and fraud.

Despite exhaustive efforts by Plaintiff to settle the ongoing litigation, Defendant has been unwilling to settle.  Plaintiff Snyder, who is a named Plaintiff suing on behalf of the Booster Club members, states, “I feel our settlement offer was very reasonable. All we want is for Ms. Kelly to step down and agree not to disparage past or future parents who want to participate in the Booster Club to effect change. In exchange, Plaintiffs would drop all claims.”

 Defendant has also refused to comply with a stipulation entered into by the parties requiring she turn over documentation proving that standard accounting measures were used at the Fireworks booth and that all money was properly deposited in the Booster bank account.  To date Defendant is non-compliant despite rigorous efforts by Plaintiff to require compliance.

Additionally, despite a vote consistent with the Booster By-Laws in which a new Booster Board was recently elected, Ms. Kelly has refused to recognize the new Board members.  Further, Ms. Kelly continues to refuse to turn over the bank account information to the new President.

In response to Ms. Kelly’s refusal to recognize the new Board, all newly elected Booster Board members have recently resigned, leaving only Ms. Kelly to run the entire club.  Ms. Kelly has yet to agree to a vote for a new Board.

Reliable sources, have brought to Plaintiff’s attention that Newark Memorial High School Athletic Director Rachel Kahoalii is working with Ms. Kelly on her defense, and that she has allegedly attempted to influence the potential testimony of Booster parents and former Booster officers who are demanding that Ms. Kelly step down.  Plaintiff plans to amend the pleading to include possible witness intimidation counts upon proof.

After hearing the complaints of so many for so long, Newark Unified School District is presently rigorously auditing the Booster Club accounts.

Finally, illustrating the need for this litigation and further investigation into questionable activities, it has been reported that Ms. Kelly is using Booster Funds to pay for her personal defense.  Allegedly, there was no Board action approving such expenditure as there is no Board at this time.

Plaintiff Snyder states “I personally had a horrible experience when my daughter was in high school.  After seeing questionable issues surrounding the lack of transparency from the Booster Club, I asked for the Booster financial reports.  In response Ms. Kelly threatened to get a restraining order against me.  This is an ongoing significant problem for parents.  Ms. Kelly has total control of tens of thousands of dollars. There are no meetings or votes and at the present time no Board other than Kelly.  Since Kelly controls all the Booster money and NMHS sports coaches and athletic personnel rely on that money for uniforms, supplies and other support for their teams it is difficult to find sports coaches or other NMHS personnel willing to support change.   And importantly and based on personal experience, even support parents who push for change.  Because of that financial control over the athletic department and coaches, a parent who questions the Booster Club’s transparency and accountability quickly becomes an outcast.  And that is continuing to happen today. I recently witnessed and interacted with a mother crying during a meeting because she was afraid that any college athletic offer letters potentially coming to her child would be kept from her if she came forward to testify regarding money going missing. That is what we are dealing with. I felt after years of trying to work with NUSD, NMHS and the Booster Club, I simply had no other choice than to file suit to get answers that really should be very easy to obtain from any non-profit.”

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