Issue date: 4/22/09 Section: Audit 2009

I went to the SCUSD offices around 2 p.m. on Mar. 24 and asked the receptionist who I should see concerning public records. She called someone upstairs to check on my request. I was asked for my first and last name. The receptionist then told me to wait in the lobby while they sent someone down to meet with me. I looked around the offices and did not immediately or subsequently see any notices about access to public documents. A man named Dale McKinney came down and told me the District did not take verbal requests and that I had to make a request in writing. After five minutes he came back, took my written request and handed me his business card. He said that copies of the records would be 10 cents each and I should be receiving a notice within 10 days. I left the offices around 2:40 p.m.

Letters of determination for my impromptu and bona fide written requests arrived on Mar. 26 and 30, respectively. My bona fide written request was partially fulfilled with the agenda of the board meeting (minutes were not approved by the Board at the time). The District was in the process of tracking down the rest of the documents as of the date on the LOD.

I received a phone call sometime around Mar. 30 from Maria Lopez, communications manager, asking for clarification as to what I was looking for as far as the public documents. She asked what I was writing about, whether I was looking for conflicts of interest and whether she could assist in securing interviews with certain District officials. I told her I was doing research, I was not looking for conflicts of interest, and it was not necessary to secure interviews for me at this time. She left her contact information and asked me to call her if she could be of anymore assistance.

I received an email from Susan Pointer on Mar. 31 notifying me the Form 700s were ready and that I could come down on Apr. 1 to view the documents. I asked to reschedule for Apr. 2 at 1:30 p.m. and she accepted. I arrived an hour early because I completed my previous engagements earlier than I thought. I asked the receptionist at the desk (this time a male) if Susan Pointer was available. He called upstairs, then told me to wait in the lobby while they looked for her. After meeting with Ms. Pointer, we went over the Form 700s of each of the school board members and the superintendent. She told me the records concerning ethics training were not kept by the District; each individual board member held those records. I was charged $1.70; Ms. Pointer asked if I needed an invoice in case the school would reimburse me for collecting these documents (up until this point, I made no mention of being affiliated with a school, or of being a journalist). I accepted the invoice, copies of the documents, and her business card. I left the offices around 1:45 p.m.

CalAware Reaction (Terry Francke, General Counsel):

The auditor was asked his first and last name, required to fill out a written request form, and told to return for the Form 700s, which the law requires to be provided within two days, 10 days later. The forms were actually provided eight days later. The district's law firm provided a prompt acknowledgment of having received the written request for other information and said a search was being done for those records. Otherwise it simply listed exemptions from disclosure under the California Public Records Act which it might or would apply to some of the requested information, including records of personnel discipline and student expulsion. But other than this communication, no determination letter or even an announcement of extension had been provided 25 days after the request.

Ben Schilter can be reached at bschilter@statehornet.com.

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