Craig Verley

The Texas Public Information Act is a unique beast for the school communications world. It plays an important role in making sure the public has access to what their government and school districts are up to, and how tax money is being spent. It also puts the school communications professional handling the requests in an interesting tug-of-war.

One important thing to note before I launch into a few thoughts is that I was lucky enough to NOT have anyone weaponize the Public Information Act to hurt or inflict some sort of pain on the school district where I worked. I wish the weaponizers realized the only real pain they are inflicting is on the main individuals responsible for officially gathering and responding to the requests. It has no real impact on the governmental body beyond possible disruptions to normal workflows and routines. It can cause a great deal of stress to the individual responsible for processing and responding to the request.

How you and your district respond to Public Information Act requests does play an important role in how the public perceives your district. Taking an approach that abides by the spirit of the law can improve public perception as the district is seen as more transparent and open. Doing the opposite can not only negatively impact public perceptions, but it can also lead to legal consequences if an organization does not follow the rules appropriately or uses the Act in a way to hide/limit public access to what they should have.

Perhaps one of the biggest misconceptions of the Act that the person in charge deals with is the idea that the district has ten days to provide what is requested. This was a constant issue for me, even with those who knew better. Life is so much better when you can convince those holding the information that the district has to provide the information promptly. It is amazing how some folks will act like a request is a huge imposition, when I knew for a fact that it would take maybe two minutes for them to find and provide the information to me for review before release. I would strongly encourage you to hold some sort of regular mini-sessions with various administrators about the Public Information Act, your district’s approach to it, and why quick responses are important to public perceptions.

Be prepared for looks of horror when the person with the information asks why the requestor wants the information and you tell them that you are not permitted to ask the requestor that. Also, be prepared to show the section of the state’s official Public Information Act Handbook stating that you are prohibited from asking for reasons or motives in making the request.

There are some companies that data mine for information like purchases the district has made during specific periods. If you can, work with your purchasing and/or IT programmers to set up and save a program that you can run yourself; thus, minimizing your intrusions upon their time in the future. It will also make your life easier when you can take one minute to run the program and then respond to the requestor and get that crossed off your list of things to do.

Hopefully, you will work with a district that contracts with legal counsel that has someone who is well-versed in the Public Information Act. You will find yourself working with them quite a bit. Try to handle the more mundane and run-of-the-mill requests yourself. Don’t be afraid to hand it off to legal counsel when appropriate for them to review and respond to the requestor within all legal timelines.

The Texas Public Information Act is a bit of a beast. The official handbook from the Attorney General’s office is over 340 pages. None of this blog post should be taken as legal advice. These are just a few of my observations and suggestions based on my experience. Be sure you, and potentially others in your district, complete the state-required training. Administrating your district’s Public Information Act requests and responses can be overwhelming. Set up a good system of intake with documentation of when items are received, when you contacted others to provide you with the requested information for processing, and the deadline for responding to the requestors. Work closely with your district’s legal counsel when necessary, and don’t be afraid to ask them questions along the way. Their guidance and reminders of some of the rules can be key to some of your sanity.

Remember, how you and your district respond to requests for information should be consistent and in the spirit of the law. The law is designed to allow light to shine on the operations and spending on behalf of taxpayers. Those who try to dim that light or limit lawful access will only hurt your district in the eyes of the public.