Open Government? Our School District?!!

Stefanie N has left a new comment on your post "Question....":

I would like to share a statement I made at Monday, March 22, 2010 BOE meeting

March 14-20, 2010 was Sunshine Week, a national initiative spearheaded by journalists about the public's right to know what its government is doing, and why. Sunshine Week seeks to enlighten and empower people to play an active role in their government at all levels, and to give them access to information that makes their lives better and their communities stronger.

When the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) was signed into national law by President Lyndon Johnson he said, “This legislation springs from one of our most essential principles: A democracy works best when the people have all the information that the security of the nation permits. No one should be able to pull the curtains of secrecy around decisions which can be revealed without injury to the public interest.”

The Plainview-Old Bethpage Central School District is currently working on and presenting budget information to the community through a series of Board of Education (BOE) and budget meetings.

The budget items for school textbooks were presented at the February 22, 2010 at Budget Meeting #1. The budget discussion took place after Public Participation so I did not have an opportunity to request a breakdown of the presented budget items. I spoke with Board President Lori Weinstein at the close of the meeting, and she suggested that I make my request during Public Participation at the next BOE meeting.

During Public Participation at the March 1, 2010 BOE meeting (Budget Meeting #2) I verbally requested a breakdown of the elementary and middle school textbook budget items. This request was positively received, and I was under the impression that I would receive the information.

At Budget Meeting #3 on March 8, 2010, having not yet received the information I requested, I inquired about the status of my request during Public Participation. I was told that the format was being changed and that I would receive the information on Friday of that week.

I received the District’s response to my request Friday, March 12, 2010. While itemizing textbooks, the information did not include any monetary breakdown of specific items so as to support the total number presented in the budget. In addition, an item in the Parkway School textbook budget that was specifically mentioned by Board President Lori Weinstein during BOE Budget Meeting #1 discussion was not included: Barron’s review book for the NYS 4^th Grade Science Assessment. Ms. Weinstein questioned its inclusion in the budget. As I do not recall any vote or subsequent decision to take this item out of the budget, I expected to see this item included in the breakdown I requested.

On Tuesday, March 16, 2010 I called the office of the Assistant Superintendent for Business and Finance and expressed my questions about the breakdown I received to Mr. Ruf’s secretary. I asked what steps I should take to receive the budget breakdown I desired. I explained that last year I had made a similar request and after multiple requests I received an item by item breakdown of elementary school textbook budgets including the cost per item comprising the total budget code as well as the rationale for the purchase. Mr. Ruf’s secretary took my information and told me she would pass along my concerns and someone would get back to me.

Having not received any feedback and as I was in Central Administration on Thursday, March 18 for another purpose, I stopped by Mr. Ruf’s office and spoke with his secretary. She informed me that she had referred my question to Superintendent Dempsey’s office and seemed surprised that I hadn’t heard anything back. She walked me to the superintendent’s office, and it was decided that I should come back after my meeting which I did. At that time, I was curtly informed by staff that I would need to either put my request for information in writing to the BOE or file a FOIL (Freedom of Information Law written request).

I went home, wrote up a FOIL request and came back later that afternoon to file it with the district clerk.

Chagrined by the difficulty I was having in getting simple information, I contacted the Committee on Open Government for clarification of my rights. I spoke with Camille Jobin-Davis who thought that since the information I requested was available and clearly public that I should receive it within a reasonable amount of time, about a week.

On Saturday, March 20 I received a response to my FOIL request:

In accordance with FOIL, please be advised that the District is presently investigating whether the requested information exists and/or is accessible under FOIL and other relevant law.

We anticipate providing a response on or before April 15, 2010 twenty business days from the date of this acknowledgement, unless you are otherwise notified.

I am unsure of how this information could not exist since it seemed very clear that it was being referred to by BOE members during the discussion of the budget on February 22. Also, there would need to be something to support the dollars requested by each school, in order for its approval by the BOE. Last year, after multiple requests, I did receive this information and I would wonder why this information would not have been compiled for this year.

Budget Meeting # 4 is scheduled for tonight March 22, 2010. I have not yet received the budget information I requested. It’s been a month since school textbook budget items were initially discussed. Budget Meeting #5 / Budget Adoption is scheduled for April 6. I would hope that I would receive the information I requested by then but at that point it seems that the budget has been more or less finalized and there is limited opportunity for public input on this item. The response to my FOIL request mentions finding out whether or not the information is available and/or accessible by April 15, which is after the Budget Adoption.

I have done everything within my power to work collegially with the BOE to receive detailed information about the textbook budgets. The Freedom of Information Act is there, when needed, to provide an incentive for public officials and bodies to operate in the clear light of day. When the system is working properly, citizens shouldn’t need to invoke the Freedom of Information Act. They should be able to merely ask for, and receive, the public information they seek. In retrospect it seems that my mistake was trusting my verbal interaction and not invoking my Freedom of Information Act rights immediately.

Certainly there should have been little confusion about my request in that after multiple requests last year, I received the very same information I am currently requesting. In my view, this information has been purposely made difficult for me to obtain. Although the Board of Education may be legally within its rights to conduct itself in this manner, I find it disgraceful that any public documents, particularly those relating to the school budget, would be withheld from the public for any reason.

Response from Superintendent Dempsey was that the information would be available the next day.