Eugene School District sues R-G The district doesn’t want the newspaper to obtain emails about the superintendent

http://registerguard.com/rg/news/local/32602891-75/school-district-files-lawsuit-to-avoid-releasing-records.html.csp

To avoid disclosing records regarding the Eugene School Board’s evaluation of Superintendent Sheldon Berman, the school district is suing The Register-Guard in Lane County Circuit Court.

"On Dec. 6, the Lane County District Attorney’s Office ordered the Eugene School District to disclose 12 pages of emails in which board members and Berman discuss the board’s supervision and evaluation of Berman. The Register-Guard sought the disclosure order after the school district declined to provide the records to the newspaper.

The district now has refused to comply with the disclosure order and has filed a lawsuit against the The Register-Guard, seeking a judge’s order overruling the district attorney and denying the newspaper’s records request.

The district argues that the elected school board members and Berman need to be assured of secrecy so they can freely discuss issues related to Berman’s performance and evaluation.

Disclosure of the emails would “inhibit” board members and Berman “from freely and frankly contributing to the free flow of information and ideas that is an indispensable ingredient in forging an effective multi-person policy-making body,” the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit states that any public benefit in disclosure is outweighed by the benefit of policy makers being able to have confidential “no holds-barred-communication.”

The school district declined to comment on its lawsuit.

Wendy Baker, the newspaper’s general counsel, said the newspaper will continue to press its case that state law requires the district to release the records.

“The district attorney’s office has ruled those records should be public, and it’s unfortunate the school board continues to spend taxpayer dollars trying to keep the records secret,” Baker said.

The dispute dates to last April, when the newspaper requested all records on the board’s ongoing evaluation of Berman.

Charging the newspaper $648, the district provided many pages of records, but whited-out most of them, including a 14-page self-evaluation by Berman, and numerous emails between school board members and between the board and Berman.

The district argued that state public records law lets it conceal such records, in part because public officials will be candid with each other only if they are sure their comments won’t be made public. State law allows some internal communications to be kept secret if the benefit of secrecy outweighs the benefit of disclosure.

In June, in a move that surprised many, the board and Berman announced Berman would step down — but not until the summer of 2015 — and that the board would not formally evaluate him. The board never held a public discussion on having Berman continue working for a year, then leave.

Prior to the announcement, the board had repeatedly delayed giving Berman his annual job review. Berman’s base salary is $209,229.

The newspaper in October appealed the records denial to the district attorney. The newspaper said it was important for the public to see records that shed light on the relationship between Berman and the board, Berman’s performance, and the board’s supervision of him. “All District parents, students and employees clearly have a substantial interest in the management of the school system and in the working relationship between the superintendent and the publicly elected school board members who oversee the superintendent,” Baker wrote.

The district attorney’s office reviewed all the records and ruled that some of the records whited-out by the district could be kept confidential, including Berman’s self-review. But the 12 pages of emails should be disclosed, the district attorney ruled.

The district has hired the Eugene law firm of Harrang Long Gary Rudnick to handle the case.

In its lawsuit against the paper, the law firm describes the contested records: They are part of “a fluid and candid consultation between Members of the (school) Board about their collective supervision of the Superintendent and about the terms and conditions of his employment. The redacted passages show Members musing aloud to colleagues about the circumstances ... Members discussed potential strategies and potential tactics for advancing the district’s interests in the process of evaluating the Superintendent’s performance ... Members expressed individual opinions about the risks and benefits of alternative courses of action or of reasonably foreseeable events ... the Superintendent and Members candidly discuss the form, timing and substance of the evaluation process ... a Member shares with her colleagues some of her hopes for the next steps in the process.”

The lawsuit follows a separate public records dispute between the newspaper and the district.

The district in early December denied a Register-Guard request for a copy of the real estate appraisal the district commissioned on the 5.2 acres of the Roosevelt Middle School site that the district wants to sell to the Eugene YMCA. The newspaper appealed to the district attorney’s office, which ordered the district to release the document. The district complied.

Follow Christian on Twitter @ChristianWihtol . Email christian.wihtol@registerguard.com .