The Park City Education Foundation and Tommy Tanzer signed an agreement in August to settle a monthslong public quarrel over changes to the Bright Futures program, which Tanzer co-founded in 2016.
PCEF now says Tanzer violated that agreement by commenting publicly on the education foundation and Bright Futures program in November.
Bright Futures helps Park City high schoolers become the first in their families to attend and succeed in college. It provides students with scholarships and individualized support.
Tanzer and PCEF publicly butted heads this year after he resigned from Bright Futures’ board in January and went public with his concerns about the program’s future.
Tanzer has since revived a similar scholarship program, Back to Our Roots. He helped found that program in 2006, although it wasn’t active while he was involved with Bright Futures.
In its lawsuit filed Dec. 2, PCEF says Tanzer’s recent remarks have damaged its reputation and jeopardized its donor funding. It seeks an unspecified amount of monetary damages to be determined at trial in 3rd District Court.
The foundation cites statements from an interview Tanzer gave to TownLift ahead of Live PC Give PC. Tanzer doesn’t mention the foundation by name, but said that “unlike some other larger educational charities … 100% of all funds donated go directly to the funding efforts” of his program.
Court papers also cite a Nov. 15 letter to the editor in The Park Record, where Tanzer thanked Back to Our Roots supporters after the annual day of giving. He wrote that his program is stepping up, “now that the education foundation has redirected its focus through their strategic plan in 2024-25.”
According to PCEF’s complaint, the nonprofit’s agreement with Tanzer bars him “from further public comment or criticism of PCEF, including but not limited to PCEF’s Bright Futures program, operations, practices and officials.”
The lawsuit claims he was not just commenting on but also criticizing PCEF.
Tanzer declined to comment Dec. 3.
PCEF President and CEO Ingrid Whitley said in a statement that “Park City Education Foundation is committed to the betterment of the students and educators we support within the Park City School District.”
“Our only aim is to ensure that an existing agreement — where the parties reached an agreement resolving a stalking proceeding — is upheld, so that we can remain focused on our mission,” she added.
After Tanzer went public in May, Whitley obtained a temporary protective order against him. District court dismissed the stalking case Aug. 13, the day before PCEF’s lawsuit says it signed the settlement with Tanzer.
Tanzer specified his concerns in a letter he and other board members wrote in January. They worried that Bright Futures students wouldn’t have continuity between high school and college.
They also said efforts to address “broader challenges facing at-risk, first-generation students” and expand support across more postsecondary paths — while admirable — would dilute the mission of serving “college-ready” students.
The education foundation says the changes make Bright Futures more inclusive, so it can reach 220 first-generation students at Park City High School, compared to 75 in previous years.
PCEF says support for college students will remain the same, and participants will still receive one-on-one coaching.
