SJSD board member slams Ed Counsel’s claim of attorney-client privilege disclosure

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (KQTV) -- A St. Joseph School District Board of Education member is pushing back against claims made by the district’s legal counsel.

Board member LaTonya Williams told KQ2 on Friday that the district’s Ed Counsel claimed she violated attorney-client privilege, an accusation she vehemently denied.

“I received an email Tuesday afternoon on my personal email account about it, and I was kind of puzzled because, in my mind, it’s not their business or concern,” Williams said.

On Tuesday, Ed Counsel sent an email to Williams stating she disclosed privileged board communication and went against her duties as a board member and Missouri law regarding attorney-client privilege.

KQ2 obtained the Ed Counsel email after being included in a response to the legal counsel’s message by a community member.

Ed Counsel’s accusations against Williams stem from emails from legal counsel being submitted into a lawsuit against SJSD Board of Education member Kim Miller.

The lawsuit, filed by five community members, including Williams, includes emails exchanged between Williams and legal counsel in March regarding Miller’s alleged violation of the Missouri Constitution.

Williams said she is part of the lawsuit but is not the one who made the communications from legal counsel public.

The emails became public after a community member made a Sunshine Law request for emails between Williams and Miller, and the district accidentally sent unredacted emails to the community member.

“Everyone on the board, everyone involved knows I did not release this information,” Williams said. “It was actually released about a month ago by the school district, and everybody knows that.”

In the email thread that included KQ2, Williams said any claim that “I was the source of the disclosure is erroneous and must be corrected immediately.”

Williams told KQ2 she has not heard back from legal counsel, school board leadership or district administration since sending her response Tuesday. She said the issue should not be the district’s focus and should have been resolved six weeks ago.

“It’s a deflection about abiding by our rules, our policies and our guidelines,” Williams said. “Who’s above the Missouri Constitution? I know I’m not.”

KQ2 reached out to Ed Counsel Friday morning regarding the accusations against Williams but has not heard back.