Jackson Jambalaya

Carolyn and Jason Voyles might have poked the bear when they sued Jackson Academy but the school woke up Mama Bear after it dragged the Voyleses through the mud as it sought to take the dispute behind closed doors. 

The Voyleses sued the school in Hinds County Court on January 5, accusing the school of terminating their son's enrollment after the couple blew the whistle on its alleged recruiting of athletes from public schools.  The media jumped on the lawsuit and the story went viral on social media as numerous TikTokers and other commentators fired up their audiences.   

JA filed a motion to compel arbitration on January 30.  The school argued the enrollment contract requires all disputes be settled through arbitration. However, the motion did not follow the path of a typical motion to compel arbitration as it used the motion to strike back publicly at the Voyleses. Arbitration and humiliation. Two birds, one stone.  Earlier post.

JA inserted in its motion to compel excerpts of a four-page email from Mrs. Voyles that well, did not exactly cast her in a flattering light.  What was interesting was JA did not included a copy of the entire email in its motion.  Interesting because it is standard practice to include emails as exhibits when quoted in filings.  However, JA avoided doing so.   

The Voyleses wasted no time returning fire with a response to the motion that included a proposed amended complaint and an affidavit by Carolyn Voyles.  

Mrs. Voyles stated in her affidavit the contract was on the school's website.  It did not allow her to make any changes.  The mother said it was a "standard enrollment contract."  She said they were under the impression that their son would not be allowed to continue at Jackson Academy if they did not sign the contract as issued.  

It is said the best defense is the best offense and the Voyles went on the offensive in the proposed amended complaint: 

In response to the initial complaint, Defendants did not own up to the consequences of kicking C.V. out of school. They did not meaningfully dispute the recruiting with which Jason had taken issue.They did not even address the allegations headon for what they were. They instead chose to double down on their retaliation by launching a public smear campaign against the Voyleses. To accomplish this, Defendants cited “justifications” for C.V.’s unenrollment that they did not rely on at the time. Defendants levied inaccurate accusations against the Voyleses. They cherry-picked phrases and excerpts from correspondence to eliminate essential context and sweep away from the public eye facts that cast Defendants in a bad light.

But Defendants’ newly minted excuses and scorched-earth tactics do not stand up to the factual record. They are also classic evidence of pretext— further demonstrating Defendants’ true retaliatory purpose from which they wish to distract.

The proposed amended complaint includes more allegations against Jackson Academy that are reported below. 

Carolyn Voyles' Email

Carolyn Voyles called JA's bluff and included the entire email in the response.  Since it was buried in 30-something pages, JJ took the liberty of posting it separately for the convenience of the readers.

JA inserted some rather damning quotes from the email into it's motion that portrayed her as a racist: 

My senior year of high school we had a white homecoming queen and a black homecoming queen. Our black homecoming queen had 2 children. At one time we had so many fights, they took the silverware out of the cafeteria. In my senior English class, a very pregnant girl sitting by me went into labor. Many children received free lunch every day, and no one really discussed colleges or careers after high school. The glass windows in our trophy cases packed full of championship trophies were shattered by fights over and over. I know of a handful of kids that went on to college, and I only keep up with a few from my class. I have never been back since graduation day. My senior year of high school we had a white homecoming queen and a black homecoming queen. Our black homecoming queen had 2 children. At one time we had so many fights, they took the silverware out of the cafeteria. In my senior English class, a very pregnant girl sitting by me went into labor. Many children received free lunch every day, and no one really discussed colleges or careers after high school. The glass windows in our trophy cases packed full of championship trophies were shattered by fights over and over. I know of a handful of kids that went on to college, and I only keep up with a few from my class. I have never been back since graduation day.

Have you been to a public school? Have you seen the environment our coaches are unfairly plucking these kids out of and then expecting them to transform to a totally new culture with totally different expectations and rules? Kids in public schools are going through metal detectors. Are we going to add metal detectors if we continue to recruit students from public high schools without knowing much about their personal beliefs? My son’s safety is important, and we count on JA to make sure his school is safe. 

Jackson Academy called her remarks "off-base" and offensive.  

The passages quoted by Jackson Academy are from a May 22, 2025 email sent by Mrs. Voyles.  The email begins with the paragraph about her experiences in Philadelphia as a high school student that was quoted by Jackson Academy.  Some highlights of her email are: 

* JA has high turnover (allegedly) among its employees. 

* "We could see the writing on the wall just like everyone else when the next couple of years, new football players started to come to JA.  We know coaches that have moved new JA football recruits into apartments with no furniture." 

* The football, basketball, and baseball teams changed substantially because of alleged recruits.  

* "Current JA players are reaching out to old coaches asking for money" for items such as uniforms, school dances, and food.  Mr. Wettach asked for the names of the players and coaches involved. 

* "Food is being stolen from the cafeteria and items/money are being stolen from backpacks. 

* Mrs. Voyles asked if "we are going to add metal detectors" if JA continued to (allegedly) recruit public school athletes.  

* Parents are afraid of speaking up because they don't want to be accusing of gossiping and fear their kids will suffer the consequences.  

* Mrs. Voyles accused the Athletic Director of saying all JA parents are racist. Mr. Wettech said in his own email such was not true. 

* "You can't be an elite private school providing superior academic opportunities and a sports academy for underprivileged students at the same time. JA has to choose."

24.   The only recent large donation to the baseball program was one that the Voyleses had arranged from The Yates Companies under the Children’s Promise Act. Based on this information he had received from two others, Jason feared that Yates-donated funds were being used for this improper recruiting that the Voyleses strongly opposed.

Mr Voyles met with JA officials to discuss the matter.  He also asked why the amount of tuition discounts increased from $1 million in  2021 to $3 million in 2023 (Based on the school's 990's).  Although he met several times with the administration, the amended complaint does not state if his questions were resolved.  

The plaintiffs allege in the proposed amended complaint JA tried to get the parents to reconcile  but on the school's terms.  (p.14 in complaint).  JA allegedly wanted to allow the son to stay at JA but wanted an apology for the creation of the pdf of transfers.  The school dropped the demand for an apology but said the parents would be on probation for a semester and surrender their parental rights for at least one semester. 

The plaintiffs declined to surrender their parental rights.  They instead asked the Headmaster to apologize to their son.  The apology never took place as he was disenrolled.  Mr. Voyles asked for an audit of all funds used to pay for transfers.  Mr. Wettach would not agree to the audit.  

The amended complaint charges the school and headmaster with breach of contract (JA), bad faith breach of contract (JA), Promissory Estoppel (JA), and intentional infliction of emotional distress (Wettach).  

Attorney Grafton Bragg represents the plaintiffs while Stephen Montaganet represents the defendants.  The case is assigned to Hinds County Court Judge Yemi Kings .

How Did We Get Here? (Synopsis of Case)

Jason and Carolyn Voyles sued the school  and Headmaster Edward Wettach in Hinds County Circuit Court in January.  charging the defendants terminated their son's enrollment because the father blew the whistle on alleged "recruiting" of public school athletes for sports.  However,   Jackson Academy said not so fast, my friend as it filed a motion to compel arbitration that dished some dirt on the Voyles while rebutting their claims.

The plaintiff's son started attending Jackson Academy in 2014 in K-4. He was a rising sophomore after the 2023-2024 school year and played on the baseball team. Mr. and Mrs. Voyles signed a re-enrollment contract in May 2025. 

The complaint claims JA started "recruiting" athletes from other schools to play in sports at the school. Such recruiting is allegedly banned by the Mississippi Association of Independent Schools.  

Several Clinton High School football players transferred to Jackson Academy last year and started on the football team.  The football team won the MAIS State Championship.* 

A concerned Jason Voyles compiled a pdf document of 11 student-athletes from Clinton, Madison Central, Pearl, and Northwest Rankin that JA allegedly recruited to participate in sports for the 2025-26 school year.  Mr. Voyles alleges only one of the 13 students who enrolled in the upper class this school year was not an athlete. 

Mr. Voyles shared the list with two other JA students.  Of course, once something is shared, it is going to get shared again as happened here.

Unfortunately for the Voyles family, that little bit of sharing drew the ire of Jackson Academy. The new Headmaster, Eddie Wettech, requested a meeting with the Voyles three days later.  The complaint claims Mr. Wettech informed the parents he was kicking their son out of the only school he had ever known: 

18. On June 9, 2025, Jason, Carolyn, Eddie, and a board member met in Eddie's office. According to Eddie, Jackson Academy had decided to unenroll the Voyles family, including C.V. from the school.

19. Eddie claimed ""the amount of negativity"" caused by the pdf was ""just unacceptable and extreme."" When Carolyn asked Eddie to identify any factual inaccuracies with the pdf, Eddie responded: ""I am not dealing with facts."

21. And it was the facts-not Jason's actions-that sparked the negative backlash that Jackson Academy felt. The facts of Jackson Academy's illegal recruiting demonstrated just how far it had strayed from its mission. Rather than inspiring and equipping "each student" for success, Jackson Academy actively poached rosters of nearby schools so it could win more games.This harms Jackson Academy's students who have devoted their time and loyalty to the school and who, because of Jackson Academy's actions, have fewer athletic slots for which to compete.... 

The complaint charged JA with breach of contract and sought repayment of 11 years of tuition as well as damages.