Divided She Stands

Eventually, DISD attorney Moyé's investigation exonerated Rojas, but only after a chain of recriminations was set in motion. Moyé concluded that while DISD policy precludes reimbursement for alcoholic beverages at business dinners, it didn't mean an individual couldn't submit personal funds to DISD to pay for alcohol.

Yet the Big Kahuna of the slander case is the notorious "Mafia Thug" packet, allegedly distributed by Parrott friend Dorothy Ellsworth to trustees at the June 2000 school board meeting.

Ellsworth, a retired teacher who's legally blind, denies she distributed material alleging Rojas had Mafia connections or a secret love child. Her packet, she says, was made up mostly of newspaper clippings. But Roxan Staff is certain Ellsworth gave her the "Thug" letter, which falsely alleges that "Dr. Rojas fathered the illegitimate son of a DISD employee." She doubts a blind woman wrote it and believes Parrott was involved. "Hearsay," responds Bruce Parrott. Lois Parrott denies any involvement and says she has never seen the letter.

Moyé, who is defending Parrott against this suit at the same time he is demanding she pay his Edison fees, says Parrott and Brashear have immunity as public officials to call for investigations into district affairs. And regardless, he says, Rojas cannot prove either made false statements knowingly, the legal standard for public officials. Likewise, he says, Rojas cannot prove Parrott directed distribution of the Ellsworth packet.

Still, similar shenanigans occurred recently when letters supporting Parrott's legal effort against DISD and Edison Schools were sent to trustees. Two lengthy missives dated June 16 and July 5 contain mostly complaints about Moye's handling of the Edison suit. The letters purport to be from Patricia Wilson of Andrea Lane in Dallas, named in one letter as "chairman, committee of concerned citizens from District 3," and in another as a "concerned taxpayer."

The Wilson letters feature a Dallas address but no phone number. But the address in Far East Dallas turned out to be that of Wilson's elderly father, James Stanton, who said his daughter rarely gets involved in civic affairs. "I don't think she even reads the paper," he said. Wilson, a graduate of Bryan Adams High School, insisted she wrote the letter, but otherwise declined comment. "I am much too busy to get on the phone right now," she said in a short message left on an answering machine.

It turns out Wilson was once the Parrotts' baby sitter, according to Wilson's ex-husband, Rick Lannoye. Questioned about the "concerned citizens" group, Parrott, who often says she knows District 3 backward and forward, responded by saying there are many community organizations in her district. Parrott claimed Wilson is technically a District 3 resident because she pays taxes at her father's Dallas house. But this isn't true. Wilson is registered to vote in Mesquite, and records show James Stanton owns the Andrea Lane house.

Bruce Parrott says his wife's enemies blame her for correspondence from others, including teachers who don't want their names known. "She doesn't have any control over someone else writing letters," Parrott says. Perhaps, but missives championing Lois and echoing her statements nearly verbatim have a way of popping up when Lois' interests are on the line.

Other internal DISD documents show a pattern of erratic and questionable behavior by Parrott. One recounted how DISD Board Secretary Suzanne Davidson caught Parrott leaving a closed-door meeting of the board with its attorney midsession to tell a television reporter what was going on inside. Davidson followed Parrott from the room and asked her to stop. In response, Parrott angrily threatened to file a state ethics complaint against Davidson but apparently never followed through.

Parrott also corrected an October 1999 memo from Davidson to Rojas for grammar and forwarded her corrections to Rojas. She wrote that Davidson "ended a sentence with a preposition" and used the word "manner" instead of "fashion" in a sentence. Davidson acknowledged the incidents but said they were in the past. Parrott insists she doesn't reveal information from executive sessions. She also says she doesn't want to trade accusations with district employees or officials.

Former Rojas communications chief Tomas Roman, who has since left DISD and couldn't be reached for this article, also had an acrimonious collision with Parrott. When a group of citizens who didn't sign up to speak at the February 2000 school board meeting weren't allowed to address the board, Parrott claimed Roman brushed the group off, telling them he didn't have "anything to do with the board."

In a letter to top district officials, Roman disputed that account. He said he helpfully explained board policies to the group and accused Parrott of embellishing her story with his reaction from an earlier dispute. The run-in occurred after Parrott got a "thumbs down" from The Dallas Morning News editorial page for using board funds to print her controversial newsletter sent to District 3 residents. Parrott demanded Roman issue a press release denying any error on her part. "I don't work for the board," he told her.

In a February 28, 2000, memo to Parrott, Roman recalled the incident: "Unfortunately for my staff you had already terrorized them for about 20 minutes before I arrived in my office...[Y]ou were screaming at them demanding they do something about those articles in the newspapers." Parrott didn't agree with Roman's version. "YOU ARE CLEARLY THE ONE WHO IS NOT TELLING THE TRUTH, MR. ROMAN," she wrote in a livid reply.