It has been a recurring theme in an ongoing narrative, “the onerous nature of OPRA requests for the District”. Yet, a compelling revelation came to light yesterday, further substantiating a strategy that is clearly intended to provoke and agitate those seeking public records, thereby dissuading the public from making such requests. – a gamble that continues to cost the District thousands in legal fees.
For those members of the public who criticized the lack of information on transportation this year while two years ago criticizing those “angry parents” for making OPRA requests, please pay attention. You might better understand the importance of this issue.
On March 19th, NJ21st requested BOE Committee Meeting Minutes.
On 05/29/2024, we received a response to our request and to their credit the Business Office included minutes beyond the time span requested.
The Finance and Facility Committee meeting minutes received (from March) involved the decision connected to courtesy busing that occurred during the 05/07/2024 BOE Meeting,
If the Committee Meeting Minutes had been posted to the District website in a timely manner, this is what families who were concerned about Courtesy busing would have known prior to the 05/07/2024 Meeting:
The above is from the 03/15/2024 Finance & Facilities Committee Meeting.
The Business Office might be shocked to discover that we have this information because what they provided NJ21st yesterday looked like this:
We assume they forgot that they had already posted the unredacted records on the District website – embedded in the April BOE Meeting minutes:
This is precisely why the District keeps losing lawsuits costing thousands upon thousands of dollars in settlements and attorneys fees- none of the above were proper or legal redactions and the information represented a compelling public interest connected to our schools.
So to be clear, critical information connected to the decision on Courtesy Bussing was redacted. When comparing the redacted records to the unredacted records it is clear that the Business Office improperly removed critical information families concerned about Courtesy bussing should have been aware of.
Additionally, the District is now citing “privacy” concerns in denying requests for community correspondence to the Board. Instead of redacting information that would compromise privacy of residents, they are issuing a blanket denial – this is after providing a multi-month dump of emails to a former BOE Member involving Ms. Khanna this year.
The District is fully aware that they can protect the privacy of residents and their children while still providing us correspondence so that the community is aware of concerns parents in the community have and how BOE Members respond.
They have been providing these records to us for years.
Again, this is another issue that can go to court, the District will spend years fighting it and ultimately shell out thousands of dollars to settle at a politically convenient time because, “Hey, it’s not my money.”
So, when you hear a blank check “support our Administrators” think about this one tiny example in a sea of mounting evidence.
We are all for supporting our Business Office but not when all the evidence points to a deliberate delay and redaction of critical information. Not when time, effort and public funds are used to hold critical information hostage while, at the same time putting the District at risk of yet another lawsuit.
Thankfully the new BOE majority voted to require that the District post committee meeting minutes on the BHPSNJ website this year – interestingly enough the minutes above have not been posted yet on that section.
