Open Records request yields ‘political emails’ using public school resources

Sept. 17, 2012 - PRLog -- Douglas County, CO, September 16, 2012  Mark Hyatt, President of Parent Led Reform (PLR), reported today that a query using the Colorado Open Records Act (CORA) contains emails that are political in nature to or from the Douglas County School District by special interest groups. Hyatt confirms that Parent Led Reform is currently indexing thousands of emails that are considered public records, some that could be considered inappropriate use of school district resources.

“PLR received numerous complaints from parents and taxpayers that the teachers union, their allies and other special interest groups were using the public school communication system for distribution of political materials,” says Hyatt. “The findings include perceived campaigning, recruiting, and even materials sent to student Google accounts. We have alerted the school district to investigate the situation and hold folks accountable for their actions.”

Laws deem certain campaign and political materials are inappropriate to be communicated via public email. While Parent Led Reform does not hold an opinion as to whether or not laws have been broken, the organization is questioning how access was granted to the school district public communication system.

“We do not presume guilt of any of those whom sent or received these emails," says PLR Executive Director Karin Piper.  "We have heard from some of the groups and individuals whom we have CORA’d and they are worried about the material we may have in our possession.” Piper added that the material appears to have been screened per CORA guidelines and turned over to the parents group according to state statute. “As far as we can tell we are not in possession of emails containing student information or other communication that has not been screened per state law. But after reviewing some emails we can see how some individuals would not want this communication to see the light of day. In the end, it is up to Douglas County Schools to review the information and assess if any further action is required.”

Piper adds that at least one sample was provided directly to PLR by a parent who had discovered outsider material in their child’s school district Google account.

An initial review of emails has indicated that the teachers union has used district resources to undermine the Board of Education’s attempt at fiscal and other reforms. Parent Led Reform is considered a champion for government transparency in order to protect the rights of parents and taxpayers.
Earlier this year PLR’s call for open negotiations led both the school district and the union to agree to negotiate a new teachers’ contract in public so that no backroom deals could be cut between politicians and unions. Additionally, PLR is waiting on a recent request for all communications containing the word “Facebook”.  Preliminary indications are that are there are over 5 million Facebook emails on district servers with nearly 100,000 of those belonging to district employees.

“PLR welcomes the public debate about school reform. Parents are the voices in education that cannot be ignored as they are the real student advocates. Therefore we take parental concerns very seriously as they are brought our way,” said Piper.