A group of parents have announced they would file a notice of claims accusing the Ashland School District of “widespread neglect” in handling school safety and mismanagement of public funds regarding a $109-million bond approved by voters in 2018.

The plaintiffs — Alex Sol, Sarah Sol, Natalie Sol and Marianna Zimmitti — also said an injunction would be filed against the Oregon Department of Education, alleging the department’s school emergency response protocols leave students vulnerable in the event of an active shooter.

The Sols and Zimmitti — acting under the coalition Parents Demanding School Shooting Safety — appeared Wednesday in a news conference outside the Ashland School District office on Siskiyou Boulevard to declare their intent to sue the school district and the state education department. As of Wednesday evening, the filings had not appeared in Jackson County Circuit Court records.

“My daughter has a right to a reasonable chance of survival should she face this horrific threat,” Alex Sol said, his voice choked with emotion. “These are our children. Do not ever stand in the way of a parent and his devotion and his love and his desire to make his child safe — that is what I feel the Ashland School District did with me.”

Sol, the father of two children in the school district, said he became concerned about school safety after visiting Bellview Elementary School in 2023 and was told by officials that the school had not been afforded features to protect against an active shooter.

Sol said he responded by going on a “campaign” in which he “met an unprecedented amount of resistance” from district officials.

“We were told all kinds of things, and one after another, our frustrations and our anger regarding the issue of school safety, neglect in the district was not addressed,” Sol said. 

Sol has provided emails to the Rogue Valley Times that show Ashland School District Superintendent Samuel Bogdanove acknowledged Sol’s concerns and that a call box and camera system was later installed at Bellview’s entryway.

Additional emails provided by Sol show he met with Bogdanove a few times to discuss school safety; the superintendent confirmed the meetings in an email to the Times earlier this year. Bogdanove said the talks were stalled because Sol and his allies refused at the time to sign a nondisclosure agreement. Sol said Thursday he has signed the agreement. 

Bogdanove also told the Times earlier this year that his school district remains open to learning more about the safety strategies that Sol has advised. At the same time, Bogdanove said his school district is in “a continuous improvement process” to improve safety, which has been helped through the bond.

In 2018, voters approved Ballot Measure 15-178 by 69% (10,402 votes) to 30.74% (4,616 votes), according to results from Jackson County Elections. The bond’s website, which lists projects at schools the bond will pay for, simply said “security enhancements” will be implemented.

During Wednesday’s news conference, Sol added the injunction would ask the state education department to examine “every single classroom” to see whether they have a hard corner — areas in classrooms where students and teachers would not be visible from hallways, windows or door openings. The corners would, in theory, prevent an active shooter from hitting anyone in that classroom.

“If there is no hardened corner, there is no possibility to allow the children and the teachers not to panic during the event because the shooter will easily be able to breach the classroom,” Sol said. 

He added that he takes “no pleasure” in filing lawsuits, but said he seeks “honesty” when it comes to school response to potential active shooters. He claimed there are no laws mandating that school districts provide safety features, unlike laws requiring fire sprinklers in buildings. 

“We ask for the same attention to be paid by the state of Oregon to school shootings,” Sol said. 

He said the group would file the notices themselves in circuit court following the news conference and that they will have an attorney “in short order.” 

“We’re seeking pro bono, but if I have to pay, I will,” Sol said. 

He said details, such as the amount of punitive damages the group would seek, are currently unknown. 

Wednesday’s press conference was not the first time Sol, a former Hollywood actor, has created buzz over local school safety protocols. 

In 2023, he helped found a nonprofit called Safe Zone Solution, or SZS, which offers safety features to local schools. Sol and his wife, Natalie, announced the formation of the nonprofit during a summer town hall event at the Ashland Springs Hotel.

The nonprofit has been in talks with both the Ashland and the Phoenix-Talent school districts to provide safety features to its respective schools. However, neither district has signed on to any plans with the nonprofit, and some school board members remain skeptical of certain safety features if they were implemented.

On Wednesday, husband and wife Alex and Natalie Sol, as well as Zimmitti — a former teacher and grandparent of two school district children — and Sarah Sol, a supporter of Safe Zone Solution, said the lawsuits they will file are not a SZS effort. 

“We didn’t want to cross the activism that we’re doing here and be the nonprofit entity,” Alex Sol said. 

Following the news conference, a representative with the Ashland School District who answered the door to the district office told the Times that Bogdanove was unavailable for comment.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect that Alex Sol has signed a nondisclosure agreement with the Ashland School District regarding discussion of security measures.