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Public Records Re-Write, Maryland Law Under Scrutiny


Public Records Re-Write, Maryland Law Under Scrutiny
Public Records Re-Write, Maryland Law Under Scrutiny
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It didn’t have to happen - that sentiment coming from a public records expert as Project Baltimore spends ten months and tens of thousands of dollars suing City Schools to get documents we believe the public has a right to see.

“Almost a year to get, and this is what you got last week?” asked Lucy Dalglish, the Dean of the Journalism School at the University of Maryland.

She laughed when Project Baltimore showed her the latest results in our ongoing public records lawsuit against North Avenue. Those results include more than 100 pages completely redacted.

“This is kind of a poke in the eye,” she said. “Kind of pretty obnoxious.”

This all started in August of 2017, when Project Baltimore first exposed allegations of grade changing at a school in northeast Baltimore. Multiple teachers told us the grades they submitted were changed so some students could graduate.

“What I did, was I put the grades in. If someone changed the grades, that was on them,” said one source who spoke with us on the condition of anonymity.

Fox45 obtained final grades, as submitted by a teacher, and report cards that show students who failed required courses still received diplomas.

“I don’t know how they got away with walking across the stage,” our anonymous source explained.

Those reports lead North Avenue to launch an internal investigation, which found the allegations “unsubstantiated”. Fox45 filed a public records request to see the report, but City schools would not hand it over. Last December, we sued.

Now, nearly one year later, North Avenue has released the entire investigation, with more than 100 pages completely redacted. Fox45 believes taxpayers have a right to read these pages. So, the lawsuit continues. But Dalglish says this didn’t have to happen if Maryland had a better public records law.

“There are some states that take public records very seriously,” Dalglish said. “There are some that blow them off. Maryland is in the middle.”

Three years ago, the Center for Public Integrity ranked Maryland 41st for the weakest public records law. Dalglish, who’s argued open records cases as an attorney, doesn’t think Maryland’s law can be tweaked, she says Annapolis needs to start over.

“In the long run that would be the easiest. It would be the most public-spirited approach,” she said.

A completely new law, Dalglish says, could use plain language and adjust for new technologies. Requests, like Fox45’s, would not be up for interpretation by a judge, because it would be clear what is public record and what is not.

Project Baltimore’s legal bills, so far, in this lawsuit are nearing $50,000. But Dalglish thinks, we’ll get it back. Maryland may have a weak public records law. But plaintiffs can recover legal fees. Meaning, City Schools may have to pay Fox45’s legal bills when this lawsuit is complete.

“Maryland requires that you show bad faith. And quite honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever seen bad faith more obvious. This is exhibit A,” Dalglish said. “I imagine there are better things the school district could be doing with its money.”

Dalglish points to Pennsylvania as a state to emulate. About 10 years ago, Pennsylvania scrapped its open records law and wrote a new one. The Center for Public Integrity report that ranks Maryland’s open records law 41st in country, ranks Pennsylvania’s fourth best.


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