Sauk Prairie School District transparency issues continue

The Sauk Prairie School District complied with the Star News’ public records request 13 days after it was filed, for documents concerning the June 22 board meeting. The documents were received on July 6. The Star News sought the same documents board members receive for each meeting. It was discovered on July 14 that these documents were inaccessible because the Star News did not have permission to access the District’s Google Drive. Access was granted a few hours later.

Notably, the inaccessible documents did not include documents for the 2020-2021 Dean Health Plan renewal. This is a public document.

In a July 6 email to the Star News providing the documents, Superintendent Jeff Wright falsely accused the Star News of the following: “In the articles about your request for the District’s Crisis Plan, you said you did not plan to publish or write about the plan and implied that gave you a right to obtain the document.” The Star News made no such implication--that not planning to publish the Plan gave the newspaper “a right” to access the document.

Wright also took issue with the Star News’ statement that the documents were “delay[ed].” He said, “As we expect you know, the public records law does not require a response within any specific number of days; and Wisconsin Department of Justice guidelines state that providing a response within 10 working days will generally be considered reasonable when the request is for a limited number of easily identifiable records.” 

The Wisconsin Department of Justice advises “Requests for public records should be given high priority.”

In taking longer than a week to comply with  a records request for board meeting documents, the District adversely impacts the Star News’ ability to timely report on the news. While there were three weeks between the June 22 and July 13 meeting, regular board meetings occur every two weeks. A delay of more than seven days for each meeting will cause board meeting articles to regularly appear after the next meeting is held, because the Star News won’t have access to the documents.

On July 10, the District enacted a new policy regarding the release of board documents prior to meetings. “Moving forward, School Board meeting items will be available post [after the] meeting. This allows for the Board to have ample review time of enclosures. In addition, there are times when the Board may choose to remove an agenda item or a meeting could potentially be cancelled altogether.”

Several members of the public receive the documents, including the Star News. On July 10 the Star News asked what timeline can be expected for the release of documents after the meeting. As of July 14, four days later, there has been no response.

At the July 13 board meeting, resident Mark Frey spoke out against the policy. “I hope going forward, despite the lawsuits or whatever, [you make] draft versions available to the public, who are impacted by the policy. Please consider that.”

Wright also said in the email, “The District has complied with DOJ guidelines despite having many time-consuming issues to work on relating to the Covid-19 pandemic.” While the Star News understands and appreciates the District’s duties, Wisconsin Statute 19.31, which states the open records policy for the state, notes that “providing persons with such information” is “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.” The Statute also reads “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.”

Wright ended the email with “For future requests for public records, we hope you will recognize the 10-working-day guideline that applies before making allegations against the District.”

For the Star News, every board it covers provides documents either before, or the day of, its meetings. Sauk Prairie School District took 13 days. The Star News has submitted a new records request for the July 13 meeting, and will for each meeting going forward. Individual requests for documents for each meeting are not required for any other boards in the area.

The Star News is still seeking a copy of the Continuity of Organizational Operations plan, which the District has refused to release, in part by citing an inapplicable Wisconsin Supreme Court case, according to Wisconsin Newspaper Association counsel. According to notes to board members in the June 22 documents, Wright explained “District policy protects this information [the COO Plan].” According to Open Records Law, specifically Statute 19.31, “An agency cannot promulgate an administrative rule that creates an exception to the open records law.” Wright further stated, in the context of the Star News being the official newspaper for the District’s legal publications, such as meeting minutes, “Being our official newspaper does not grant access to information protected by policy.” The Star News never made that argument, and, as indicated in statute, policy cannot protect public documents.

Several members of the public have reached out in support of the release of the documents to the Star News.

The Star News is planning to seek an opinion on these matters from the Wisconsin Department of Justice, Office of Open Government.

Past Issues

The Star News began seeking more transparency from the School District in the wake of the January 28 bomb threat at Sauk Prairie High School.

While confirming the bomb threat with a Madison-based news outlet on the afternoon of the 28th, the District did not respond to the Star News’ request for confirmation for two days. In addition, the Star News received no information about the threat, meaning it could not inform the public about a safety issue in a timely matter.

The District informed parents about the threat via an email communication system called “Skyward,” where messages are sent out based on a specific school and grade level. When the Star News asked for access to Skyward emails, Wright cited practical issues with obtaining access. “I don’t even have access,” said Wright. Practical limitations do not exclude Skyward messages from public record requests.

The Star News has not pursued this matter further to date.