by Sidney Martin
When you send your child to school, you trust that the system exists to educate, protect, and safeguard them. You assume, as any parent would, that the protection and well-being of children is of most importance to the ones in charge. You assume that federal laws mean something, that district policies are strictly enforced, and that the administrators running the division hold themselves to a basic code of ethics.
I found out the hard way that inside the central office of Albemarle County Public Schools (ACPS), none of those assumptions are true.
What started as a conflict over out-of-district school rules quickly turned into a coordinated multi-department cover up. The district weaponized public-school resources to strip me of my parental rights and block access to my son. This isn’t a story about a bureaucratic misunderstanding. This is a documented timeline of fraud, systemic cover-ups, and federal violations operating at the highest levels of ACPS leadership.
The Deception and the Central Office “Loophole”
The fraud began when an ACPS special education teacher, Kelsey deSibour, used her employee status to fraudulently enroll my son in an out-of-district school, by falsely claiming on official school paperwork to be his biological mother. (Exhibit A)
From the very beginning, this was not a solo act. During a phone call, Central Services Tanisha Thompson coached Kelsey deSibour—a Special Education Teacher at Red Hill Elementary School—on how to commit this enrollment fraud bypassing both state and federal laws. Thompson handed Kelsey deSibour an administrative road map to game the system, instructing her to marry my son’s father before the start of the school year in a calculated attempt to manufacture a legal loophole and create the illusion of compliance with state laws and out of district registration requirements.
Under oath, Ms. deSibour testified to receiving this central office directive. FOIA records prove that she purchased a marriage license within days of speaking to Tanisha Thompson at central services, backing up her court testimony as seen in her email (Exhibit B) and public records showing she went as far as purchasing a marriage license within days of that call. Ms. deSibour wrote and sent the letter claiming that she was my son’s stepmother on July 31st, but in fact did not in fact marry my son’s father until August 6th. (Exhibit N)
The Sham HR Investigation
When I brought this physical proof- the identity fraud, the falsified enrollment forms, and the massive breach- to Deputy Chief Human Resources Officer Brodie Downs, he completely swept it under the rug. Instead of doing his job, Downs sent an email claiming that Ms. deSibour followed district protocol, choosing to ignore the mountain of evidence sitting right in front of him. (Exhibit C)
Although, the recorded phone call changes everything. On that tape, you can hear Downs unravel. He confidently states that Ms. deSibour never claimed to be the mother of my son. As I catch him in this lie and force him to review the document, he backpedals and admits he has never actually reviewed the documents he was tasked with investigating. He confesses that he was told by Central Services that a parent’s name was not needed on out of district enrollment paperwork. (Exhibit D)
“We Aren’t Supposed To, But I Will for You”
Ms. deSibour was eager to commit the fraud and the administration was just as eager to help her pull it off. With Central Services in her corner, she leaned on the Red Hill bookkeeper, to surrender full control of my son’s PowerSchool account. (Exhibit E)
On August 4th, the Red Hill Elementary bookkeeper instructed Ms. deSibour to manually add my son into PowerSchool, handpicking his classroom teacher- despite the school not having any records from his previous school. (Exhibit F) This flagrant violation of state law and the district’s own policy, a violation is clearly proven by the district’s own August 1st acceptance letter. (Exhibit G)
Red Hill Elementary bookkeeper knew she was breaking the law. In a written exchange, she explicitly stated: “We aren’t supposed to, but I will for you.” (Exhibit E)
With those words, a school employee casually bypassed both state and federal law for a personal favor. Ms. deSibour was not legally entitled to that access. Yet she was handed complete control over my child’s medical files, emergency contacts, and educational records.
Central Services tried to use a court order to justify their actions, after repeated attempts to obtain my son’s enrollment paperwork Tanisha Thompson followed up with an email claiming that the district would honor the enrollment once they read a court order detailing which parent could legally make educational decisions. Their demand was irrelevant. Neither my name nor my son’s father’s name was on the out of district special permission request. Under state law and the district’s own strict policies, my son was not legally allowed to attend the district. (Exhibit H)
To uncover the extent of the fraud, I submitted a FOIA request. Once Jennifer Butler received my $200 FOIA fee she informed me that school employees are “custodians of their own records”- meaning that Ms. deSibour got to hand pick which records were handed over. (Exhibit I) After reviewing the files it was clear that Ms. deSibour chose to leave out a self incriminating email. (Exhibit J) When it was brought to Jason Grant and Jennifer Butler’s attention only then was a proper IT search ran. The email was found, and then handed over with the assurance that my FOIA request was now complete. (Exhibit K) How does any parent or community member trust the FOIA process when Central Services lets a dishonest teacher scrub their own records and conceal evidence?
The Ultimate Cost: Educational Neglect and Retaliation
While trying to uncover the corruption, I was banned from seeing my son at school. Brodie Downs claimed my custody order required the ban, but internal records later proved they were lying. (Exhibit C) Internal FOIA records and an email from the school board’s own attorney Josiah Black clearly stated that he believed the ban had already been lifted. (Exhibit L) Meanwhile Jennifer Butler even apologized for the “inconvenience” the ban may have caused. Despite this Brodie Downs chose to ignore the advice of the board’s legal counsel, preventing me from supporting my son at school and unlawfully violating my 14th amendment rights.
Albemarle County Public Schools failed to provide the education my son was legally entitled to. For a full school year, he suffered in the classroom without the specialized support he needed so the district could hide their fraud. Ms. deSibour, as a special education teacher, knew exactly what services he needed. Instead of advocating for him, she chose to let him struggle to protect herself from the serious legal repercussions of her own actions.
My contact with my son is limited today simply because I chose to stand up, and be a protective parent. To keep the corruption hidden, the school district ran a sham investigation, buried public records and continued to protect a fraudulent employee- allowing her to be around the most vulnerable children.
Superintendent Matthew Haas’ forced resignation and the fact that other top officials are now on leave is just a glimpse into a much deeper crisis. Before his departure, Haas publicly admitted that new policies needed to be put in place to prevent this type of failure from happening in the future. (Exhibit M) The rot goes deeper than the superintendent’s seat. Tanisha Thompson, Brodie Downs, Jason Grant, and Kelsey DeSibour are still there. We cannot allow our children to become victims to the people who run Central Services. They have shown us exactly who they are, and it’s clear they believe that the law doesn’t apply to them—and that the well-being of our children is not their priority.
Media Evidence Reference List
- Exhibit A: Out-of-District Enrollment Form, proving that Ms. deSibour’s name was used to secure the enrollment.
- Exhibit B: Email from Ms. deSibour thanking Tanisha Thompson for the phone call the week prior.
- Exhibit C: Email from Brodie Downs defending the fraudulent enrollment and closing the investigation while maintaining the “restricted contact” designation.
- Exhibit D: Brodie Downs recorded call on October 27th, 2025.
- Exhibit E: FOIA records showing Red Hill Elementary bookkeeper handing over PowerSchool control to Ms. deSibour.
- Exhibit F: Email from the Red Hill bookkeeper confirming teacher assignment without student records.
- Exhibit G: Out-of-District Acceptance Letter dated August 1st, 2025
- Exhibit H: Email from Tanisha Thompson conditioning enrollment on court order while finally providing the out-of-district enrollment forms.
- Exhibit I: Jennifer Butler’s email identifying employees as custodians of their own records.
- Exhibit J: FOIA response proving that Ms. deSibour altered or deliberately withheld portions of her exchange with the Red Hill bookkeeper.
- Exhibit K: Email from Jennifer Butler acknowledging the missing email following an IT search.
- Exhibit L: FOIA records proving that legal counsel believed that the “restricted contact” designation had been removed.
- Exhibit M: Email from Haas stating new policies and procedures would be put in place.
- Exhibit N: Fraudulent letter written by Ms. deSibour before her marriage took place.
