Hamilton County’s public school leaders are engaging in a disturbing pattern of behavior that obstructs attempts by the media and community from accessing public documents.
Over the last several months, the Times Free Press has requested two sets of public records, one from the Hamilton County Department of Education and another from the Board of Education.
Both times, they charged what seemed to be an excessive amount of money for records about the safety of school bus drivers and the search for the district’s next superintendent – information the public certainly has the right to know.
Alison GerberThe first request, made in the wake of the tragic Woodmore Elementary School bus crash, was for complaints against bus drivers in the past five years. After it was revealed that a student, parents and even the principal had complained about the driving of Johnthony Walker – who was at the wheel during the fatal crash – and that some of those complaints were not shared with Durham School Services, the company that operates buses for Hamilton County, it seemed obvious to review records to see if complaints had been launched about any other drivers.
As reporter Kendi Rainwater wrote in an email to Amy Katcher, communications director for Hamilton County Schools: “We think it is in the best interest of the public to know what complaints were made against bus drivers and which of these complaints were shared with Durham.”