Lawrence USD 497 school board

The Lawrence school district has denied an open records request related to the vacant seat on the school board, using a legal argument that Gov. Sam Brownback also has used to close records.

The Journal-World was notified Monday that a Kansas Open Records request to view applications of people applying to fill the vacant seat on the Lawrence Board of Education had been denied by the district. In a letter, district spokeswoman Julie Boyle said the applications were considered “correspondence” from private individuals and thus were exempted from the Kansas Open Records Act.

Gov. Sam Brownback made the same argument in an unrelated 2015 case where the Salina Journal and The Associated Press sued to see the applications of people who applied for new seats on the Saline County Commission. A Shawnee County District Court judge, however, ruled against Brownback and said the applications clearly weren’t correspondence.

“Neither the applications nor a list of applicants is protected as correspondence,” District Court Judge Rebecca W. Crotty wrote in the September 2015 ruling. The ruling, which involved several other issues, is under appeal by Brownback and the other defendants in the case.

The Journal-World is reviewing the school district’s response and considering its legal options, Journal-World Publisher Scott Stanford said.

“But certainly we are disappointed that the school district would side with the governor and others who argue for less transparency in government rather than heed the clear ruling of a district court judge,” Stanford said.

The Journal-World on Thursday filed the open records request for the applications of all people filing for the board seat left vacant by the recent resignation of Kristie Adair. Originally the school district was not going to release the names of any applicants until after the March 6 deadline for applications. The Journal-World made objections to Superintendent Kyle Hayden, arguing that members of the public deserved to know who was seeking the position so that other members of the public could judge whether they too wanted to apply.

The school district agreed to provide the names of applicants, but said it would only provide contact information if the applicants consented to having that information released. The Journal-World then made the open records request for the applications, which in addition to having contact information also include questions about why the person wants to serve on the board.

As part of its denial, the school district argues that the applications aren’t a public record until they are received and reviewed by the board of education. The school district, though, cited no provision in state law that backs up that claim. Kansas statute 45-217(g) defines a public record as “any recorded information regardless of form or characteristics, which is made, maintained or kept by or is in the possession of any public agency . . .”

“It seems clear that the district has the completed applications, so it is hard to understand how they do not meet that definition,” Journal-World Editor Chad Lawhorn said. “It is concerning that the district would simply say they are not a public record without pointing to anything in the law to confirm it.”

The school district did not respond to a request for comment on this article. Boyle said district officials were involved in other meetings Monday afternoon and unavailable to comment.

The district in its denial letter has committed to releasing the application materials sometime after the March 6 filing deadline and before March 9. The district said releasing the materials before the application deadline would be damaging to the process by “creating an advantage for some applicants and dissuading capable people from applying for the vacancy.” The district didn’t provide further explanation.

The Journal-World is continuing to reach out to applicants and will write profiles on the applicants as they become available. The school board is scheduled to fill the vacancy at its March 13 meeting.

“We hope school board members will use this incident to reflect on the district’s responsibility to be transparent and open with the public,” Lawhorn said. “The school district designed the process for filling this vacancy. Why couldn’t the process have been designed in a way that would have allowed for more openness?

“Lawrence school district leaders do many great things in their roles, but time and again they struggle to be transparent and open with the public.”