NSBA Legal Clips
Archived entries for FOIA

Florida appellate court rules that student email complaining about professor’s classroom behavior and teaching methods was an education record protected from disclosure under FERPA

A Florida Appeals court has ruled that a college did not violate the state public records law by refusing to provide a professor with an unredacted copy of a student’s email complaining about the professor’s classroom behavior and teaching methods, because the email was protected under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).

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U.S. Supreme Court rules Virginia can restrict nonresidents’ use of state’s FIOA

On April 29, 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in McBurney v. Young that it’s legal for a state to limit use of its Freedom of Information Act to its own residents.

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Federal court denies former school board member’s request to join suit over nondisclosure of mass mailing records

The North County Times reports that a California federal district court has denied the request of a former school board member to intervene in a freedom of information suit brought by the state Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) against the U.S. Postal Service (USPS).

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Pennsylvania appellate court rules school district must provide school board, individual member, and the superintendent’s emails to newspaper

A three-judge panel of the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania has ruled that a school district must disclose all emails to and from its school board, the individual members, and the superintendent from a certain time period to a newspaper under the state’s Right-To-Know Law.

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Virginia Supreme Court grants review in suit alleging open meetings violations by Fairfax County School Board

The Virginia Supreme Court has granted review in a suit brought by a parent alleging that the Fairfax County School Board (FCSB) violated the state’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), reports the Fairfax Times. Jill DeMello Hill’s legal complaint charges that several FCSB members were corresponding with each other through emails, which were not made public. Because more than two board members were corresponding via email, she argues that board members violated Virginia’s open meeting provisions under FOIA.

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Wisconsin district agrees to disclose “sick notes” submitted by teachers during mass protest over state’s new collective bargaining law

The Madison School District (MSD) has agreed to to release more than 1,000 sick notes submitted by teachers who missed work in February 2011 during mass protests over the state’s collective bargaining law, reports the Wisconsin State Journal. MSD will be providing the Wisconsin State Journal (WSJ) with redacted versions of the notes, i.e., with the teachers’ names and other identifying information removed, in response to the newspaper’s suit against MSD alleging violation of Wisconsin’s Open Records Law.

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Parent files suit against California school district seeking disclosure of personal emails under state’s public records law

The Del Mar Times reports that parent Michael Robertson has filed a lawsuit against the Del Mar Union School District (DMUSD), alleging DMUSD is withholding documents subject to public disclosure under the California Public Records Act (CPRA). The suit also named DMUSD school board president Comischell Rodriguez as a defendant for failure to disclose emails related to the CPRA request that were sent to and from Rodriguez’s personal email accounts.

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Arkansas court orders school district to turn over records regarding suspension of football coaches

A Greene County, Arkansas Circuit Court has ordered Greene County Tech School District (GCTSD) to release documents related to the suspension of several assistant football coaches after a November 2009 playoff trip to Monticello, says the Paragould Daily Press.

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ACLU demands documents from Arizona on its ethnic studies law, charging state is engaging in censorship

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is demanding that the Arizona Department of Education turn over documents pertaining to the state’s new law banning ethnic studies, says Courthouse News Service. The ACLU claims that the law (HB 2281) “is simply a new tactic for the age-old problem of government censorship.”

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Colorado districts scramble to comply with attorney general document requests

More than 150 Colorado school districts are scrambling to fill massive document requests from the state attorney general in connection with a lawsuit challenging the state’s school funding system, reports the Coloradoan. The requests were made by the attorney general’s office, which is defending the state in the Lobato vs. State of Colorado. The request asks districts to provide documents dating back to 2005 related to 26 board governance and budget subjects.

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