Columbia County school Superintendent Tommy Price said he prefers requests for documents, such as the salary contract he is holding, be made in writing. He said his office tries to hide nothing. JIM BLAYLOCK/STAFF

Local systems fail test

Surveyors came away from four county offices emptyhanded after asking for employment contracts

Web posted December 16, 1999

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By Peggy Ussery
Columbia County Bureau

Don't expect to walk in off the street and get a copy of a superintendent's employment contract from a local school system.

Although by Georgia law you should be able to do just that.

Local school districts say they do a good job releasing public records When asked, however, none immediately granted verbal requests to view copies of superintendents' employment contracts.

Four school systems -- Burke, Columbia, McDuffie and Richmond counties -- were surveyed during a statewide audit of government agencies to see how readily available open records are to the public. (Columbia County was surveyed in November, and the other three were surveyed in September.)

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In each case, reporters making verbal requests were told by secretarial staff they would have to speak to the superintendent to view or copy the contract. Reporters were asked to identify themselves and leave their phone numbers in some cases.

A superintendent's employment contract is public record under Georgia's open records law. The law allows anyone access to public records regardless of the purpose behind the request.

And while secretaries might be the first to be seen in a school system's central office, they are usually the last ones to be trained on what is public record. Instead, requests are referred to supervisors or superintendents, and most are expected to be made in writing -- reasons for why requests were not granted, local superintendents said.

``We knew it was a test,'' Burke County Superintendent Doug Day said. ``We don't give anything out when you just come in and say `I want to see something.' My staff does not give it out because they're not really trained in what's open and what's not. We'll give you out anything. You can get anything you want, you just put it in writing and give us three days and you pay for it and you can have it. But that's the way we work.''

In only one case -- McDuffie County -- was the superintendent actually available to respond to the request, but even that superintendent doubted whether his contract was public record.

``We did have a copy ready for her (the reporter) the very next day,'' said Ed Grisham, superintendent of McDuffie County schools. ``I'm not sure when and if she picked it up, but we made it available.''

That was after Dr. Grisham contacted a legal representative with the state to make sure the superintendent's employment contract is public record. And now, Dr. Grisham said, he would make the employment contract available on request.

``Now, knowing for sure that I've got to get it, I would go get a copy of it and give it to them,'' he said. ``But I think I did the right thing before in that I told the individual I wasn't real sure.''

Richmond County Superintendent Charles Larke did not return several messages left at his office. Deputy Superintendent Gene Sullivan said the school system tries to respond immediately to requests, but some requests such as those involving personnel records would be expected to be made in writing.

``Generally, most of the requests that we get for open record kinds of things are in writing from an individual or a group or a lawyer or whoever,'' Mr. Sullivan said. ``If there's any doubt that we should or shouldn't, we work with the school board attorney to make sure this is what we should do legally not just to protect the employee or the group that's looking, but making sure I'm not personally liable for releasing something I shouldn't release in this litigious society that we live in.''

After Richmond County school officials were contacted for this story, Dr. Larke's secretary left a message that the employment contract would be made available with proper identification from a reporter or could be mailed if the request was made in writing.

Under Georgia law, records requests are not required to be made in writing, but written requests help eliminate disputes over what was requested and when. And government agencies have three business days to respond to requests.

``They should have put it in writing, and I can assure you somebody would have responded,'' Columbia County Superintendent Tommy Price said. ``We are a public agency, and our business is basically the public's business, and I don't really try to hide anything. Anytime I have a question I would always have our attorney advise me on the request.''

Reach Peggy Ussery at (706) 868-1222, Ext. 112.