Other highlights of the Cronkite News Service review

by Adnan Alam

By Cronkite News Service

Here are other highlights of the Cronkite News Service review of school districts and public records:

Contract request denied

The Deer Valley Unified School District declined to release its superintendent’s contract because the district contracts for the position with an outside company, Educational Services Inc. However, the Prescott Unified School District, which also contracts for its superintendent through ESI, provided a contract and a performance appraisal.

Sandi Hicks, the district’s director of public relations, said districts differ in policy when it comes to contracting with outside sources. Her district gave neither an evaluation or a contract but did e-mail a reporter with the superintendent’s salary.

“We don’t have the superintendent’s contract on file here,” she said. “We don’t even have access to it.”

Staff time

Arizona’s Public Records Law allows entities to charge a “reasonable amount” for staff time required to comply with requests. For the Wilson School District in Phoenix, that amount was $30.

An invoice sent with the superintendents’ records said finding and copying the 14 pages took three hours, and it sought $10 for each hour.

“Ten dollars an hour is a common charge,” said Alex Dumas, the district’s personnel manager. “That’s our going rate.”

The Cave Creek Unified School District charged a $5 service fee.

No other districts charged for staff time.

Copying charges

Government bodies are allowed under state law to charge reasonable copying fees for requested documents. Charges for Cronkite News Service reporters ranged from 10 to 30 cents per page.

Superintendent complains

Toni Badone, superintendent of Yuma Union High School District, contacted Cronkite News Service to complain about what she called the intimidating tone of the public records request. Although she sent the requested information, she said she didn’t agree with the negative request and thought the student should have told her as a courtesy the reason for the request.

“I would have preferred more of a respectful letter,” she said. “Nobody needs to tell us the law. We’re pretty familiar with it. Being condescending doesn’t get you too far in terms of trust.”