CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – While both sides expressed a desire to end the public back-and-forth of the past week, Albemarle County School Board Chair Dr. Rebecca Berlin and Commonwealth’s Attorney Jim Hingeley are still in disagreement over a key point regarding the division’s investigation of former Hollymead Elementary staffer Michael Swiney – whether or not the division should have waited to release a Title IX report into two incidents involving Swiney until after his Aug. 13 bond hearing.

In a letter to Berlin on Tuesday, Hingeley said that the division could have “deferred the release of the outside consultant’s report to a later time.” Instead, it was released and Swiney’s attorney pointed to it in an unsuccessful bid to get Swiney released on bond. 

Wednesday, Berlin told Cville Right Now that was not an option.

“Mr. Hingeley suggests the school division should have delayed sharing the outside Title IX report until a later time. We would not do that, and it is worth being clear about why,” Berlin said in an email. “Once a determination is issued in a Title IX complaint, we are legally obligated to provide it to both the complainant and the respondent at the same time.

“ACPS’ consistent practice is to deliver the determination as soon as the decision is issued — the same way, for every family, in every case. The report was distributed to both the complainant and the respondent at the same time when the decision was rendered, not based on the court calendar. Delaying release based on a hearing date would have meant withholding it from the complainant’s family to serve someone else’s litigation timing. That is something we will not do,” Berlin wrote.

Asked about Berlin’s objection to his comment about the timing of the report’s release, Hingeley told Cville Right Now in an email Wednesday, “the School Board complies with what it determines are its legal obligations, and the Commonwealth’s Attorney office does the same.  We will continue to pursue justice for the victims and the community in these cases.”

Swiney, a former social emotional learning coach at Hollymead Elementary, faces 11 felony charges of sex crimes against four female students at Hollymead, all under the age of 13. 

During Swiney’s bond hearing on Aug. 13 in Albemarle County Circuit Court, Deputy Chief Commonwealth’s Attorney Lawton Tufts questioned the “trustworthiness” of the division’s Title IX report regarding a pair of allegations against Swiney. Tufts also accused the school division of being less than cooperative with the Commonwealth Attorney’s office. 

Monday, Albemarle County School Board Chair Dr. Rebecca Berlin sent Hingeley a letter refuting Tufts’ claims and asking Hingeley to meet with Acting Superintendent Dr. Chandra Hayes to clarify mandated reporting procedures. Dr. Kate Acuff, the Board’s longest tenured member, also told Cville Right Now that Tufts’s comments were “unfortunate.”

Tuesday, Hingeley responded, stating in his letter, “I support and endorse the statements Mr. Tufts made in court concerning the actions of ACPS in the Swiney investigation.”

“I understand why the School Board is defensive,” Hingeley wrote to Berlin, according to a copy of the letter sent to Cville Right Now. “But it’s not clear why you immediately chose to make your position on Mr. Tufts’ comments a matter of public debate without first giving me a chance to meet with you, explain the Commonwealth’s position, and point out factual inaccuracies in your letter. Your rush to release the letter to the media has now created a one-sided public debate in which I will not be able to participate.”

Hingeley said ethical rules limiting public commenting on ongoing cases by attorneys who are party to the cases. He criticized the school division for sharing the board’s letter with the media before he had an opportunity to read it and respond.

One thing Berlin and Hingeley agreed on Wednesday was that the back-and-forth public debate was not helping anyone.

“The Board does not believe a back-and-forth between the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office and the Board should be carried out through the press,” Berlin wrote Wednesday, noting the only reason she was answering Cville Right Now’s inquiry was to address Hingeley’s comment about the timing of the report, which she felt could not “go unanswered in the public sphere.”

Hingeley told Cville Right Now, “As mentioned in my letter to School Board Chair Berlin, I will not be engaging in a public debate on the issues raised in the correspondence between me and Chair Berlin, including the timing of the release of the Title IX report.”