Monday, September 15, 2008

West Bend School District Denies Open Records Request

Ginny followed the following open records request with the West Bend School District.

Having learned of a “Rainbow Connection” group that fell under the auspices of the taxpayer-funded C.A.R.E. program(Chemical Abuse Resistance Education (CARE) is a confidential support program offered at the high schools that provides a way for students to deal with problems that affect learning.) at our high schools, I filed a request under Wisconsin’s Open Records Law for information concerning the facilitator of this program, the credentials by which this facilitator counsels students, what materials he/she uses, who the co-facilitator is, and further requested all correspondence between this individual and school administration/school board officials for last school year.

Seems reasonable.  After all, we’re talking about taxpayer funds and a public school system here. 

Well, the district denied her request.  In doing so, the district responded, in part, with this:

However, in light of the prior questions you have asked, the questions posed here and your public records request directed at XXXXXX, the District questions what legitimate interest is being served by these inquiries. I am concerned that this situation is coming perilously close to being a case of harassing an employee because of his/her sexual orientation. The District will not be a party to any such harassment nor will it be responsible should legal action be initiated by the employee against you as a private citizen.

In addition, although you have the right to request public records under state law, the District is not obligated to create records, which is what you are asking us to do every time you request a response to another list of questions. Although I will answer the questions you have posed in this instance, it is time to close this matter and move on to the many important issues facing the District at this time—and which have not been given the time needed due to the amount of time that has been consumed with this one item.

WOW.  Basically, the response was, “we don’t think that you have a legitimate reason to be asking these questions and it’s wasting our time.” 

First, the District is way out of line questioning the motives of the person who filed the open records request.  They are required by law to respond with the information regardless of the reason for the request. 

Second, the school district is a public institution funded by taxpayer dollars.  Responding to a taxpayer’s request is their job.  If they think it’s a waste of time, then they need to reevaluate their priorities. 

The response from the West Bend School District is outrageous and probably illegal.  If this is how the district plans to treat the taxpayers of West Bend, they can expect even more friction in the community.

(8) Comments
Posted by Owen at 2141 hrs
Law + Politics + Politics - Wisconsin

  1. Ginny sounds like she needs to get a life.

    Posted by Emily on September 16, 2008 at 0942 hrs


  2. Perhaps, but that doesn’t excuse the school district’s response.

    Posted by Owen on September 16, 2008 at 0944 hrs


  3. Can’t wait for the AG to get his hands on this…

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on September 16, 2008 at 1147 hrs


  4. Emily listed the same post on my blog.  That is okay.  I expected there would be some who feel that School Districts should govern the taxpayers and be allowed to withhold information from parents.  Many times, people who make comments like this are either too lazy to check out the information themselves (which many have done and emailed me with their positive and surprised responses) or are buds with people in administration.  I DO have a life, and I am enjoying my God-given freedoms.

    Posted by GMazy on September 16, 2008 at 1207 hrs


  5. WI Stats 19.31 states why the school board needs to provide the records. 

    In recognition of the fact that a representative government is dependent upon an informed electorate, it is declared to be the public policy of this state that all persons are entitled to the greatest possible information regarding the affairs of government and the official acts of those officers and employees who represent them.
    Further, providing persons with such information is declared to be an essential function of a representative government and an integral part of the routine duties of officers and employees whose responsibility it is to provide such information.  To that end, ss. 19.32 to 19.37 shall be construed in every instance with a presumption of complete public access, consistent with the conduct of governmental business. The denial of public access generally is contrary to the public interest, and only in an exceptional case may access be denied.

    It part of that the eternal vigilance thing some dead white guy harped about. The item about routine duties means civil servants can’t whine about how hard it is to let their civil masters know what the are doing.

    The presumption of law is AGAINST the government agency.  This means it is not for Ginny to say why she wants the records.  It is for the school board to state why the requested record(s) are exempt under one of the exemptions defined in WI Stats 19.36.

    Unless the school board states why the records is exempt for disclosure, the records MUST be released.  The board could be sued and have to pay a civil penalty if it continues to refuse to obey the law. Paying legal fees to fight destined-to-lose lawsuits is just another waste of taxpayer money.

    This is typical in open records cases. The government body always seem s follow The Guide To Hiding Records: How to Avoid Complying with Wisconsin’s Open Records Law.  The board seems to be using tactic numbers 1 and 9; dny the record exists and invent authority.

    Go get ‘em, Ginny.

    Posted by John Washburn on September 16, 2008 at 1232 hrs


  6. John,

    I have seen, heard and experienced every rule in the “Guide.”  Especially the one that claims I am some type of lunatic because I ask for “so many” open records. The truth is, I have had to ask over and over again for records, have been told the District’s “software” does not accommodate a “word search” of email, I have to wait, they can’t fulfill until the tech team “fixes” the problem, maybe 4 weeks, now its 6 weeks, still can’t fulfill…....  In the meantime, I continue to add requests and beg for the OLD ones and then I AM THE CRAZY ONE.  It is simply a game.  But this time, Miss Scarlet is in the Attorney General’s office with a writ of mandamus.  And she DOES have CLUE.

    Posted by GAMazy on September 16, 2008 at 1552 hrs


  7. Owen - You’re right. I’ve been reading John Foust’s comments about the process over at the original post, and I do believe there were some missteps on the part of the district in not complying with the request and in questioning her intent. I’m a big supporter of open records laws in general, so that’s not my issue here. My issue is that this smacks of a witch hunt simply because Ginny doesn’t want any sort of gay-friendly group at the school. If I’m wrong about that, then I certainly apologize.

    Posted by Emily on September 19, 2008 at 1313 hrs


  8. Well that was an interesting read for me, thank you for sharing this, cheers.

    Posted by Word search maker on October 14, 2008 at 0138 hrs


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