On June 26, 2024, Real News Michiana published an article about Doug Chaffee. Doug Chaffee is the former Principal of Penn High School and is currently running for PHM school board. Doug Chaffee is also the father of current PHM school board member Matt Chaffee. RNM recently published an article about Matt Chaffee as well.
In the article about Doug Chaffee, RNM claimed that Doug Chaffee engaged in a “terrifying attack” against Matt Chaffee’s girlfriend at the time.
Doug Chaffee reached out to me asking if I’d be willing to publish his response. He expressed that he felt I was the only media outlet that would be fair to him and publish his response without taking sides.
Here’s Doug Chaffee’s statement on the Real News Michiana article about him:
Clifton French of RNM has taken our conversation from September of 2023 out of context. He has not provided the full text messages between us, and he has completely twisted my words to him to create a “hit piece” on myself and my son. I am guessing Mr. French has not released the full audio recording he claims to have due to threats he made about killing his ex-wife and others on that same call. My son and I are no longer going to entertain these defamatory articles as our focus is serving the PHM community and its constituents. Thank you to everyone who supported and continues to support the Chaffee family in our endeavors to better our community.
– Doug Chaffee
I can not verify the claims made by Doug Chaffee, but I’m told his attorneys approved the release to me. I’m also told there‘s more to come in future releases.
In an exclusive press release to me, Matt responds to the vote and hints at what’s to come regarding the allegations against him.
Last month, Real News Michiana published a story accusing Matt Chaffee of hypocrisy in demanding PHM board members resign in the wake of numerous violations by their members. The claim is that Matt was himself engaging in activity that warranted his resignation.
Most local media outlets showed up to last night’s vote to call for Chaffee’s resignation. The media was disinterested in previous press releases they received highlighting several examples of the board president, Chris Riley, and his actions, and the subsequent calls by Matt Chaffee for Chris Riley to resign as a result.
These previous issues included, but are not limited to:
The board losing an illegal SAC complaint with the state.
A parent winning a Civil Rights complaint against the board.
The harassing of parents critical of the board. Including police and employer harassment.
Board President Chris Riley committing several policy violations.
And refusal to punish PHM faculty caught violating policies.
None of those well-documented issues have caught the attention of local media. This angle, however, did.
The same goes for the teacher’s union representatives who circulated an email recruiting people to be at last night’s meeting. They were never interested in showing up to address proven issues with the PHM school board previously.
I wanted to point out that the media has been completely disinterested in corruption and abuse on the PHM board, but the moment a conservative member faced criticism, they showed up.
Here’s Matt Chaffee’s response to what happened last night and the allegations against him: