Park City School District purchased a home in Jeremy Ranch in 2018 as part of an incentive to provide housing inside the school district boundaries for the new superintendent. A project to improve safety of the driveway was started this summer. The $200,000 price tag has garnered public criticism.
Carolyn Murray has details about how the issue has escalated into allegations of harassment and vandalism at the home now occupied by Superintendent Jill Gildea.
A Salt Lake City news crew appeared at the residence on October 31st to report on the driveway expenditure. It’s alleged that sometime during the night, a rock was thrown through the back window of the home. Park City School District Communications Director, Melinda Colton provided a statement for this story. In it she says:
“While the district does not have any witnesses to the incident, they believe the broken window is intentional.” She said Superintendent Jill Gildea is “saddened, angry, in disbelief and surprised, especially since the property isn’t hers.” In addition, Colton says the incident is “very disheartening for Superintendent Gildea. She and her family feel unsafe.”
Summit County Sheriff’s Department Public Information Officer, Andrew Wright says on Halloween, the office received an email stating the Salt Lake City television crew posted outside the Jeremy Ranch home was causing the Superintendent and her family to feel unsafe.
"It’s about the media being there. She did request increased patrol because the media said they would be there through the evening news hour. We did not send any deputies. We’re not going to go up there just because the media is there. It’s not common for the media to go camp out in front of someone’s house. I think that it’s very clear that there’s been a lot of talk that that is a school district owned residence. It’s just not our place to get involved with the media being there.”
As of this report, the Summit County Sheriff’s office has not received a complaint from the Park City School District or members of the Gildea family.
“We have not been notified that any type of incidence has taken place at the school district residence. There was no mention of any kind of criminal vandalism or any kind of other threats. It was said that they felt threatened because the media was there. Since that time, we have not had any other contact from Superintendent Gildea or her family members or anyone that resides at that residence to report any type of criminal activity or threats."
Wright urges the school district to contact the sheriff’s office so that an investigation can take place.
"It’s been allegations. I understand there’s been an official statement from the school district through the local newspaper alleging that this was a targeted attack. If that is the case, we always recommend that anyone contact our office and make sure that we can investigate something like this and that has not taken place.”
The school district statement says online abuse, including inciting people to go to the house and threaten and harass the superintendent is not only potentially illegal but morally wrong. The statement says certain neighbors have posted vitriol on social media that has incited someone to throw a rock through a window in the home. The complete statement can be found at pcschools.us.
