The Berkeley Heights Public School District’s Issues with Releasing Public Records Continues…
A while back I wrote a rather difficult-to-follow article that attempted to outline the games being played with OPRA requests (and agendas, and determining which policies need to be followed, and creatively applying how board meetings are run) by our new Business Administrator, Anthony Juskiewicz. I (and others) have never before seen the kind of acrobatics this district performs to try and avoid relinquishing PUBLIC records, and this practice started with former Business Administrator Julie Kot, continued with OPRA Custodian Designee Stephen Hopkins, and now sees Mr. Juskiewicz carrying the same sputtering torch. This fight for access to records has gone beyond the pale at this point.
Berkeley Heights Community Watch waited six weeks to get the latest committee meeting minutes. As a reminder, “Under OPRA, the custodian must respond to request “as soon as possible,” but requesters must receive a response within seven business days after the custodian receives a complete request.” As is the practice at several other school districts, we have repeatedly asked that minutes be posted on the district website after they are approved by the board. Back when the OPRA requests were briefly being posted on the district website, we noted that one month saw three different residents (two of whom are in no way connected to the “small group of angry parents”) sending requests for committee meeting minutes. Wouldn’t it be so much more efficient to post them, rather than make people ask repeatedly?
After sending a request of my own, which asked for the OPRA requests submitted for September, October, and the first three weeks of November, I then waited NINE weeks for a response. And did I get the records I requested after all that time waiting? I did not. Mr. Juskiewicz has now determined that the request is too voluminous to fulfill unless I cough up approximately $95 for the privilege of seeing PUBLIC records. Whether this claim of volume is true, or not, we have no way of knowing because the answer lies in the very documents I am seeking. The whole reason behind my request is the suspicion that district is playing games with… everything, actually, but in this case with OPRA requests.
I have decided I will not be paying the district to have Mr. Juskiewicz fulfill my request, but rather will change the nature of the request. There’s more than one way to skin a cat. However, is this REALLY an efficient use of his supposedly very valuable time? We’ve wasted more time fighting over the records than would have been spent just handing them over. Obstruction for the win? I don’t think so.
