Pre-Litigation Record
The documentary record of the ~14-month Open Records dispute that preceded Melody v. BCSD. Every document on this list is a primary source. The Background page narrates the sequence in plain English; this section hosts the underlying documents.
Chronological
| Date | Document | Author | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-10-25 | AG Letter A — Opening | Senior Asst AG Kristen Settlemire | Opens the Corley mediation; reads Mullins v. City of Griffin as authority for disclosure. |
| 2025-03-05 | Parker Poe response — Alex II teacher ORR (part of the Cost Schedule page) | Sherry H. Culves, Parker Poe | First confirmed Parker Poe ORR touchpoint in the record. $1,590 cost estimate issued to internal-staff requesters using the same exemption basket later used against Corley and Hatcher. |
| 2025-03-14 | BCSD Denial Letter to Hatcher | Sherry H. Culves, Parker Poe | Deploys the 34 C.F.R. § 99.3 “requester-knowledge” FERPA theory in writing; concedes the YouTube recording is the only recording of the 7/18/24 meeting. |
| 2025-04-14 | GA DOE Response Letter | Stacey Suber-Drake, GA DOE Chief Legal Officer | Declines state intervention; redirects to AG Open Government Mediation Program. |
| 2025-04-24 | AG Letter B — Close-Out | Senior Asst AG Kristen Settlemire | Closes the Corley mediation at impasse; rejects BCSD’s reliance on Mullins; points to O.C.G.A. § 50-18-73(a) private enforcement. Exhibit F to the Complaint. |
By category
Georgia Attorney General — Open Government Mediation
BCSD / Parker Poe refusals
- BCSD Denial Letter to Hatcher (Mar. 14, 2025)
- Parker Poe ORR Cost Schedule — the template exemption-basket responses across the three parallel requester categories
Georgia Department of Education
What’s not here. This section does not include the underlying Macon Melody journalism coverage of the Alex II community, the 513+ signature petition that Alex II parents gathered in February–March 2025, or the Bewick-drafted state-escalation letter. Those threads are documented at kerryhatcher.com and in news coverage from the Macon Melody, 41NBC, WGXA, WMAZ, and WPGA. They are outside the scope of this FERPA/ORA-focused archive except to the extent they are referenced in the Pre-Litigation Record documents themselves.