Kyle Clark Profile picture
Feb 18 10 tweets 3 min read
THREAD: There's confusion about what DougCo Schools did regarding a potential release of the names of teachers who were absent on the day of a major protest against the conservative majority school board. This is why the teachers names may still be made public...
Background: Colorado courts have held that teacher absences are public records (in a similar case in Jefferson County where teachers called out sick to protest the actions of a conservative school board). coloradofoic.org/court-of-appea…
Open records are open to all. Douglas County Schools provides a simple web form that can be completed in minutes. Records custodians then determine whether to fulfill or deny the request, in part or in full, based on their interpretation of CORA, Colorado Open Records Law.
Denials can be appealed and may result in legal action. There's no evidence that DougCo Schools denied the records request for the teachers' names or was prepared to do so when the request was withdrawn. The night prior, the district warned teachers the info would be released.
When Board President Mike Peterson announced during last night's board meeting that the teachers' names would not be made public, he did not explain why. A district spokeswoman later told 9NEWS that the records request had been withdrawn.
Why was the request withdrawn? We don't know at this point. Perhaps the records requester was not initially aware their name would also become public. Perhaps the requester was convinced by allies to abandon the request. Perhaps they were told the district would fight disclosure.
I directly asked DougCo Schools today if the district had made a decision not to fulfill that open records request or future requests for teachers' names. A district spokeswoman said she couldn't say how future CORA requests would be handled.
Could DougCo deny a new request for the teachers' names? Sure, if the district is willing to risk legal action. Could the release of the names be blocked by a court despite precedent? Possibly, according to attorney @MarioNicolaiEsq, who works in open records law.
Open records requests tend to come in bunches, from journalists and advocates, when an issue is in the news. We don't yet know if there are other pending requests for the teachers' names - or how DougCo Schools will handle such a request. And there may be another filed anytime.
I hope this thread helps clear up misperceptions that the DougCo School Board blocked the release of the teachers' names and that the names will not be released in the future. We simply don't know.

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More from @KyleClark

Feb 19
NEW: Fired DougCo Schools superintendent Corey Wise has hired an attorney and may sue the district. One potential claim stems from Board President Mike Peterson telling @710KNUS talk host @GeorgeBrauchler that the board could have terminated Wise for a fireable offense. (THREAD)
Wise was unilaterally terminated, or fired without cause, by the newly-elected conservative majority school board on Feb 4. That decision prompted a nearly quarter million dollar payout of one year's salary. Mega-thread on that meeting here:
If the school board had fired Wise for cause, no payout would have occurred. During the board meeting, Wise indicated he would fight any effort to fire him for cause, saying, "Bring it on."
Read 8 tweets
Feb 18
Sometimes kids are in pain and there's nothing we can do to help. But when the pain comes from a lack of dental care, we CAN change that. #HeyNext viewers have raised $20,000 and counting this week for @KINDsmiles' work for children across Colorado: classy.org/campaign/kind-… Image
The non-profit KIND, Kids In Need of Dentistry, offers underserved communities "judgment-free, positive oral health experiences, treatment, and education with kindness, regardless of a patient's ability to pay." Image
Studies have shown that a lack of dental care causes children to miss school and to perform more poorly when they're there. So it's no exaggeration to say that KIND's work can change the trajectory of a young person's life. Image
Read 6 tweets
Feb 18
NEW: Democratic congressional candidate @Joshuajered of Arvada arrested on felony charges after he launched his campaign with an active warrant for his arrest. #copolitics
Rodriguez faces felony charges of identity theft and attempt to influence a public servant. He is running for the Democratic nomination in Colorado's newly formed 8th Congressional District. (First by @ArvadaPress) 9news.com/article/news/l…
In 2018, @Marshall9News reported that an Arvada woman found a Facebook ad claiming she'd endorsed Rodriguez for Arvada City Council. She had not. Disclosure: Rodriguez then sued me and 9NEWS' parent company, TEGNA. The lawsuit was voluntarily dismissed. 9news.com/article/news/l…
Read 5 tweets
Feb 17
UPDATE: DougCo board members immediately went into executive sessions to get legal advice on releasing the names of teachers. Yesterday, a letter to teachers suggested it was a done deal, so this move could suggest the district may see a way out.
Courts have ruled that teacher absence information is an open record under the law, so the district's refusal to fulfill the request could result in legal action. Other possible scenarios: delaying release or convincing the open records requester to drop or narrow the request.
A note from an attorney who knows open records law better than I do - about the stickiness of the precedent that teacher absence records are public...
Read 10 tweets
Feb 16
THREAD: Releasing the names of DougCo Schools teachers absent from school during a protest continues a trend of conservative leaders in Douglas County seeking the names, and sometimes addresses, of perceived opponents: teachers, public health workers, and journalists. #copolitics
DougCo Schools is required to comply with an open records request to release names of teachers absent on the protest day (expected to include teachers absent for other reasons). Fmr DA @GeorgeBrauchler said parents should be able to "confront" them.
In 2020, the head of Parker Republicans, Mark Hall, posted the names and addresses of public health workers in retaliation for COVID-19 restrictions.
Read 14 tweets
Feb 16
UPDATE: The names of DougCo Schools employees who requested an absence on the day of a Feb 3 protest against the school board will be made public tomorrow, according to a letter the district sent to teachers and staff.
A letter from the district tonight notified teachers and staff who requested absences. The letter, provided to 9NEWS by several district employees, does not say who requested the information under the Colorado's Open Records Act.
DougCo Schools notified teachers and staff it plans to release information "which includes your name" but did not specify if that also includes where employees work and why they requested time off on Feb 3 (sick child, bereavement, sick day, personal time, etc).
Read 6 tweets

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