Parent Testimony Regarding the Dismissal of Case Against Garners

A personal reflection by Tim Jester, Academy and GOD Int’l Parents’ Day Out Parent 

It’s taken me a minute to decide how to handle this but here goes.

I’ll start by saying, Marissa and I are proud to send both of our boys to The Academy for G.O.D. which is part of the parent organization, Global Outreach Developments International, just up Old Hickory Boulevard in the Hopewell neighborhood.

The parent organization, the school, and everyone we know personally associated with G.O.D. International are God-fearing lovers of Jesus and others, and they have our full-throated support.

Unfortunately, over the last couple of years, Marissa and I found ourselves having to defend our choice and the community surrounding the school. This was in light of a salacious website and a largely one-sided article that appeared in The Tennessean after Global Outreach Development’s founders, Gregg & Tara Garner, were arrested on charges of TennCare fraud in March of 2021.

I must admit that, after hearing about the arrest and discovering the website, I too was gravely concerned about our choice. Should we continue to send our son to a school which claimed its mission was to, “holistically educate children to become responsible, kind and ethical neighbors,” while being run by a man arrested for fraud? If the allegations were true, we were not ok with that.

We had done our due diligence. For several years before sending our eldest son to The Academy, we became friends with people in the community and spent time thoroughly learning about the school and how they view education. Although not members of the organization (we still are not), we were welcomed with open arms and felt comfortable, accepted, and even loved.

When time came for us to put Callen in school, it wasn’t even really a choice.

But the events of March 2021 caused us to second guess our decision and dive back into more due diligence. I scheduled a meeting with Gregg, and Marissa and I spoke personally with him and other administrators about the fraud charges, the website, and the whole scenario.

We felt assured after that conversation, but it wasn’t enough. I had lunch with Davidson County District Attorney Glenn Funk a few weeks later and weaseled questions into our conversation. Funk put me in touch with his ADA in charge of financial crimes and I sent more questions to his direction.

Ultimately, we decided that we would trust Gregg, continue to believe the Academy was truly in the business of raising ethical neighbors, and continue sending Callen to school there. And in the time since, we have defended the school and the community at every opportunity.

And now, finally, it was made public a few weeks ago that on July 28, 2022, the court dismissed the case with prejudice and the District Attorney’s office declared nolle prosequi. (FULL STORY HERE.)

Without prejudice means the court reviewed the merits of the case and decided to not move forward.

Nolle prosequi is a legal Latin term that means the district attorney’s office is declaring that charges either could not be proved, that evidence demonstrated innocence or that there was found to be a fatal flaw in the prosecution's claim and the district attorney became convinced the accused was innocent.

Tim Jester, and his wife, Marissa, offer to make parents coffee at a morning fellowship for Academy families. The Jesters are participation and support of their student’s education at the Academy is a blessing to our faculty and staff.

Along with the news of dismissal, it also came to light through the process of legal discovery that a group of people disgruntled with Global Outreach Development presented false accusations of wrongdoing to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation in 2017 which began a five-year journey that ultimately ended in complete dismissal.

So, why write all of this?

There are a few reasons.

We want you to know we support Global Outreach Developments International, their leadership, their mission, and the school where we send both our sons.

If you trust us, you can trust them.

But also, because The Tennessean probably isn’t going to run a retraction, we want all the people we know and care about to also know this organization is good and the people running it and serving it are amazing people.

If you have any questions or thoughts, please feel free to pick up the phone and call me.

If you read this from beginning to end, thank you.

And if you’re interested in a school that raises ethical neighbors while focusing on early childhood emotional and social development, let’s talk.

You’re not going to find a better school for your kids.