📚 SWANK Dispatch: Exhibit A — The Facebook Record That Should Have Been a Formal Letter
🗓️ 7 August 2020
Filed Under: homeschool obstruction, evidence of compliance, social work escalation, educational gatekeeping, digital documentation, policy evasion, truancy threats, legal overreach
“The record was digital, the neglect was institutional.”
— A Mother With a Screenshot and a Syllabus
In this final escalation to Edgar Howell, Director of Education, Polly Chromatic didn’t just explain the past three years — she documented them. With timestamps. Screenshots. Email threads. And an unassailable transcript of evidence pulled directly from Facebook Messenger, lovingly titled Exhibit A.
What she revealed was not a story.
It was a bureaucratic slow-burn:
Approval dangled.
Letters promised.
Deadlines missed.
Children threatened.
🧾 I. The Timeline Is Not Alleged. It’s Archived.
• 15 June 2017 – Initial message to Mark Garland via Facebook
• 26 June 2017 – In-person meeting at 3pm in Grand Turk
• 4 September 2017 – Mark finally requests her curriculum
• 10+ separate written requests asking for written homeschool confirmation
• Dozens of follow-up calls, messages, and apologies for non-response
• Multiple truancy threats, including from the truancy officer (Mr Kennedy)
• Zero formal letters received
All while she followed the UK curriculum and complied with every informal instruction.
📉 II. Compliance Was Never the Problem — Communication Was
Polly:
“I am happy to adhere to whatever curriculum you want me to follow but I need to know what that is.”
Instead of clarity, she received:
• Vague emails
• Delayed replies
• Repetitive instructions
• And most devastatingly — continued harassment from the Department of Social Development for lack of a letter that had been promised but never sent.
🧠 III. Digital Evidence vs Institutional Amnesia
Mark Garland:
“I will email you this evening.”
27 times — Noelle followed up.
What she got:
✓ Approval in conversation
✓ Repeated verbal acknowledgements
✗ No formal protection from truancy accusations
✗ No shielding from social work threats
📌 Final Plea:
“Please, I am willing to do whatever is necessary to resolve this matter cooperatively.”
But cooperation is only possible when the institution holds up its end — and responds, formally, in writing, as promised.
SWANK has the receipts.
Exhibit A, archived.