In the News - September 2007

The trouble leading up to HB 2564 began in June 2003, when two parents from Eanes Independent School District, Dianna Pharr and Susan Bushart, began filing public records requests because of their concerns about the district’s spending priorities and budget cuts. They published the documents and their findings online.

“It definitely started out as a personal issue for me,” Pharr said. “I began to look at the district’s priorities and then determine whether they were in compliance with things such as the Americans With Disabilities Act. And I found, in my opinion, that they weren’t.”

Pharr had seen “serious irregularities” in Eanes’ spending priorities, which she characterized as “athletic spending with no holds barred.”

Pharr had questions about why the district bought artificial turf for athletic fields and a Jumbotron while complaining of a budget crisis and being unable to meet the needs of its special education students, and why Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts had to pay to use school facilities while private sports teams did not.

“The more I requested, the more I knew I needed to request,” Pharr said.

Pharr was motivated to create her Web site, www.keepeanesinformed.com, to make the public records she had received readily accessible to the public.

Pharr estimates that she makes about 50 records requests per year, and said that much of what she continues to address in Eanes are the same issues she had four years ago.

“There are children in wheelchairs who don’t have a fire exit,” she said. “There are children in wheelchairs who don’t have access to the playground. But the school is considering a covered football field so these athletes wouldn’t be hot when they work out.”

Pharr does not beat around the bush when she talks about the origins of HB 2564.

“This bill was targeted at me,” she said.

“From the very beginning they told me I was harassing them,” even at the beginning when all she wanted were the agenda packets for the school board meetings, Pharr said.

Almost half of the total time the district spent on public records requests in the past year was for Pharr, according to Eanes’ Public Information Act logs.

Pharr maintains that all of her requests fall under the law, and that nothing she has done could be construed as abuse of the Public Information Act.

“I have paid every time they have asked me to pay,” Pharr said. “I’ve never not picked up information I requested — quite the contrary, I begged them for it.”

One month after Pharr launched her Web site, the district released confidential medical information from her son’s records at a board meeting, to the public and to the media.

After attempts to resolve the matter at the district level failed, Pharr took her case to the U.S. Department of Education and won her complaint for noncompliance with the Family Education Records Protection Act against Eanes.

“You’ll pay the price that all whistleblowers pay. There will be damage to yourself, and to your family,” Pharr said. “If they had to make a law to stop the flow of public information in this district, then I must have been darn effective.”

In addition, Pharr has filed a formal complaint with the Travis County attorney regarding the Eanes Independent School District’s failure to release records, after determination by the state attorney general that they were required to do so. She also has a pending complaint from a board meeting in February that allegedly went into an improper closed session in violation of state open meetings laws.

How a school district responds to requests for public information says much about trust and confidence.  article

    When everything is going right, we rarely question the operations and expenditures of our school districts.  There were many years when I simply baked cookies for the teacher appreciation luncheon, volunteered in my child’s elementary school, served on various committees and wrote an annual check to the booster club.  I did not know the location of the central administration building of my school district much less the board room.  I had more than hope ... I had faith ... in my public school district.

Sometimes in life, our perspective changes without warning, sometimes so dramatically that we are moved to action.  

When our community began its public discussion of our district’s budget “crisis” in 2003, I began asking Eanes ISD for basic public information that was not readily available from the district or in any other venue, seeking information to answer questions about spending and other topics, hoping to increase the public’s awareness and understanding of proposed cuts to academic or other programs.  Many in our community questioned our district's abundant athletic spending and its apparent absence from the evolving lists of proposed budget cuts.  

Community members and teachers provided the ideas for my information gathering efforts.  Afraid of retaliation, many feared submitting their own requests to the district.   "Can you get the board minutes and agendas?"  "Are the coach’s salaries and stipends public information?"  "Are disabled children appropriately identified and served in the gifted program?"  "Are we charging private athletic clubs to use our public facilities?"  "Who benefits from the money generated by the Jumbotron?"  "How safe are our school campuses?" "Does the district comply with federal law ... are our school facilities accessible as required by ADA ... playgrounds, stages, and restrooms?"  "Are emails between and among the superintendent and board members public information?"   "Have the board members completed required conflict of interest forms?"  As I reviewed documents related to the operations and expenditures of our district, I formed a perspective that was truly troubling.  I was also shocked by the inability or unwillingness of the district to provide information in an efficient and effective manner.

When my school district refused my offer as a volunteer to post the public information to the official district website, I created my own website and posted the public information without editorial comment.  Our community library supported open government and reserved a portion of the reference shelves for hard copies of the information.  The library also linked www.keepeanesinformed.com to their site for easy online reference.  I recognized that all who reviewed public information would have varying perspectives.  Information is the essential first step to action - all sorts of actions.  I hoped that others would use the site’s information to learn, form, and then communicate their own opinions regarding the policy, practice and priorities of our school district.  

Almost immediately after I published my website, my focus was diverted.  In November 2003, the Eanes ISD board published my young son's confidential information including his medical information and released it to the public in writing during a board meeting.  As always, I first attempted to resolve this matter within the school district.  Eanes ISD retained an outside attorney to represent the district.  I represented my son pro se.  When the Eanes ISD administration and then board denied my complaint, I submitted a formal complaint to the U.S. Department of Education in Washington, D.C.   Again, the district retained attorneys to battle my child's privacy rights.  I represented my son pro se.  In January 2005, when the agency ruled against the district and found that it did not comply with FERPA law, Eanes ISD could have simply complied with the federal law, protected children, and changed their policy and procedure - at no cost to the district.  Instead the district again retained attorneys to appeal the adverse finding.  Again, I represented my son (and therefore every other child whose records are maintained by public schools) pro se.  Again, in March 2007, the U.S. Department of Education confirmed its finding against Eanes ISD.   I did not sue the school district for damages.  Instead, I followed administrative complaint processes in an effort to convince Eanes ISD to comply with federal law created to protect children.  A point to ponder:  the district described the release of my child's confidential information as "inadvertent."  Yet our district leadership chose to retain tax-funded attorneys to battle my child's privacy rights.  Inadvertent?

I have learned much from my interactions with Eanes ISD.   The work was both difficult and profoundly illuminating.   When I enrolled my children in the Eanes ISD, I believed what I had heard - that Eanes ISD would educate and protect my children.  I did not question the status quo or the decisions of those in charge.  That was a mistake. 

Trust.  Confidence.  School district lingo.  "It's for the children."  When public school districts spend our tax dollars to retain attorneys and lobbyists to withhold our public information, and battle against our children's rights, trust and confidence is impossible and children are hurt. Taxpayers deserve value for each tax dollar spent by the adults in our school systems.  Teachers and parents have the right to readily access public information reflecting the priorities and operations of our school districts ... without fear of retaliation.  However, more importantly, all of our children have the right to be safe in school and fully access the district's facilities and programs.  We all have the right to trust those in charge. 

EdNews.org - The Internets #1 source for Education News and ...

Dianna Pharr Columnist EdNews.org When everything is going right, we rarely question the operations and expenditures of our school districts. ...

Austin American Statesman articles and editorial  - Excerpts only - To access full article contact the Statesman

Some officials don't like to let in the sunshine - (07.04.2005 - Austin American-Statesman)
Public access to government meetings and records is the law in Texas, but it's not always accepted easily. Some public bodies and officials react to open government inquiries like vampires to daylight …

Not a reporter? You can still request to see public records - (07.04.2005 - Austin American-Statesman)
Individuals willing to tackle the government — any government — usually have a flame in them that burns hotter than in most people. It takes enormous time, effort and, sometimes, money to take on city hall or a state legislature. But the most effective tools for the willing are the freedom of information laws. They guarantee the public has access to meetings and records, though official compliance is often spotty and can be downright defiant.
Many ordinary citizens, and more than a few government officials, think the FOI laws serve only to help the press. But businesses and Joe Citizen request government documents as often as the press.

Someone who regularly monitors a government body or frequently requests public documents can be quickly branded a nuisance. Too many Texas officials have a narrow view of their public trust and think the public ought to keep its nose out of government business. Those who don't can be a bother.