Buckeye Institute files lawsuit against Columbus City Schools over public records
Megan Henry
A Columbus public policy think-tank filed a lawsuit Thursday against Columbus City Schools over the release of public records involving union dues and classroom curriculum and training in African American studies.
The lawsuit by right-leaning nonprofit Buckeye Institute is related to two separate instances where the state’s largest school district with 47,000 students denied public records requests. The Buckeye Institute filed the lawsuit in Ohio’s 10th District Court of Appeals, which covers Franklin County.
“Access to public documents is fundamental to our system of government and is clearly spelled out in Ohio law,” said David C. Tryon, director of litigation at The Buckeye Institute.
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“Despite their clear responsibility to produce these public records, Columbus City School officials have refused to comply with Ohio law, and it is unfortunate that the district’s actions have forced The Buckeye Institute to turn to the courts to resolve what should have been a simple matter of complying with Ohio’s Public Records Act,” Tryon said.
Columbus City Schools said Thursday afternoon they are aware of the lawsuit, noting that two of the plaintiffs are former employees of the district.
“Although the District is named as a defendant, the plaintiffs’ lawsuit appears to be a contractual dispute between the plaintiffs and their unions in which the plaintiffs allege that the unions continued to collect union dues after the plaintiffs revoked their union membership," said Columbus City Schools spokesperson Jacqueline Bryant. "The District will file a response to the lawsuit in court.”
What were the denied public records requests?
There were two public records requests sent on Aug. 24 related to union deductions from Columbus City Schools.
Columbus City Schools “declined to produce the record or provide a reason why they are not records subject to production" on Aug. 29, according to the lawsuit.
A separate records request was sent on Nov. 2 requesting staff training materials and curriculum from Columbus City Schools, including materials “relating to “The 1619 Project” and documents the district has “relating to the College Board’s “AP African American Studies Course” curriculum or training, according to the lawsuit.
The request also asked for staff training materials or documents provided to the district by Panorama Education, Inc., Chiarello Consulting Education for Good, The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning, Diversity Center of Northeast Ohio, or Insight Education Group Inc.
On Nov. 16, Columbus City Schools declined the request, “claiming that the requests were overly broad and that the records were not kept in the manner being requested," according to the lawsuit.
Ohio’s Public Records Act states that when a request is denied as overbroad, the public office must tell “the requester of the manner in which the records are maintained by the public office and accessed in the ordinary course of the public office’s or person’s duties," according to the lawsuit.
The Buckeye Institute "believes that (Columbus City Schools) have public records that are responsive to its request that (Columbus City Schools) are intentionally withholding without any valid claim of exemption," according to the lawsuit.
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