2nd GRAMA Appeal Letter

12 September 2016

HAND DELIVERED
Ms. Janet Roberts, Business Administrator
℅ Salt Lake City School District
440 East 100 South
Salt Lake City, Utah 84111
Re: 2^nd GRAMA Notice of Appeal: Gang Prevention Expenditures

Dear Ms. Roberts,
Acting under the authority of my elected office, and in my official capacity as a member of the Salt Lake City Board of Education, I submit the following appeal on behalf of the residents of Salt Lake City, District 2. [1]

Pursuant to Utah Government Records Management Act – please accept this: GRAMA NOTICE OF APPEAL in your capacity as the district’s chief administrative officer. [2]

BACKGROUND
On April 5, 2016 – At the regularly scheduled Board meeting, I specifically requested that the Board look at student, police, community and gang intervention in a comprehensive manner within the context of budget development. [3]

On May 16, 2016 – I met with Superintendent Cunningham and among other issues advised her of my concern for the manner in which District personnel were misappropriating state funding allocated to the District for gang prevention and intervention.

On May 17, 2016 –During a regularly scheduled Board meeting, I renewed my request for financial information on the gang prevention and for at-risk students. [4]

On June 7, 2016 – Prior to the regularly scheduled meeting of the Board commencing, I once again asked you in your capacity of the Board’s Business Administrator, for information on gang funding as well as clarification on a $20,000.00 expenditure for the Salt Lake Area Gang Project.

You consulted with Larry Madden who claimed to not have any information on the expenditure, but would check with one of his subordinates and get back to me. [5]

On June 21, 2016 – During the regularly scheduled meeting of the Board, I once again, raised the issue of the status of the District’s gang intervention program. The Board president spoke to my request with a commitment to have the information provided to me. You spoke to my concern and advised me that it was a grant from the state and you signed off on it, although you would not provide me any information in response to my questions. In that same meeting I asked about the details of RDA expenditures. I was told that the information I requested, would be provided.

On July 12, 2016– I sent Superintendent Cunningham an email renewing my request for information on the finances of the District for at-risk students. I in part stated the following:

On May 6, 2016 –Superintendent Withers sent me the following information; “Enhancements for At-Risk Students (EARS) Resources”.

Our EARS funding peaked at $5,051,765 in 2008-09 and totals $2,463,967 for the current year (2015-16).

The following programs in the General Fund receive EARS allocations:

Board Distributed Student Achievement Funds (elementary);

Program 1013-District Achievement Testing;

Program 1016-AVID/Equity; program 4255-MESA;

Program 4261-Truant Student;

Program 4266-ALS Services; and,

Program 4267-ESL Endorsement.

The EARS resources also help fund the 7.0 FTE used to support high school English as a Second Language (ESL) classes.”

I went on to advise Superintendent Cunningham:

All that is doing, is telling me that the funding is being scattered among these categories. This does not tell me what this funding is being used for. I would like to know the specific expenditures that EARS money is being used for in terms of amount of monies and their purpose. I cannot make an informed decision on funding if I do not have a clear picture on how the District is utilizing this particular category of state funding.

A couple of months ago, I asked Janet R. what was the $20,000.00, expenditure for Salt Lake Area Gang Project Inc. in the May 3, 2016 – Purchase report was used for. Janet referred the question to Larry M. who confirmed that Misty S. spent the money. Someone was going to get back to me on what exactly that money was used for.

I am also wanting to see a copy of the Gang Prevention application that was submitted to the State Office of Education. I am being told that Colors of Success is being eliminated from the District.

If that is true, then I submit that this District is placing the community in danger if we are eliminating this type of gang intervention program.

I have also asked for a break down on how the District is funding transportation with school buses. Earlier this year Barbra K. attempted to cancel a school bus that serves students attending Clayton Middle School. I am of the opinion that bus routes and their funding are the purview of the Board not a District administrator.

I would also like to know the total amount of RDA funding that the District receives and where that money is being spent. 

Is there a place to know where Title I funding is being spent? I continue to receive complaints from employees that Title I monies are being spent inappropriately. Can you provide me a break down on how and where Title I money is being expended throughout the District?  

I would also like to know what funding the District plans to put forward towards the University of Virginia turn around program during the 2016-2017 school year. What is the source of that funding? 

Finally, I want to ensure that the Board has been informed about all available funding. Last year we were told of the need to raise taxes by 1.5 Million and then in late November we are told of an additional ongoing 2 million dollars available in the budget. 

It is imperative that all information about revenue be disclosed to the Board during the budget process and prior to the Truth in Taxation hearing, not afterwards. [6]

On July 18, 2016– I once again met with Superintendent Cunningham and among other issues renewed my request for information on the status of at-risk student funding. In that meeting, I renewed my request for information on the finances of the District. I also renewed my objection to personnel changes occurring without Board approval. I also renewed my request for an updated organization chart of the District administration and departments.

On July 29, 2016 – I received a copy of the Gang Prevention and Intervention proposal signed and submitted to the State Office of Education by you and Chief Operations Officer, Larry Madden, back in May of this year.[7] The proposal confirmed what I was being told, that you and Chief Madden did indeed eliminate Colors of Success as the District’s gang intervention program. In my correspondence to the Superintendent I asked the following:

“…from a procurement standpoint, [8] can you please advise me what process Administrator Roberts and Chief Madden followed in order to utilize the services of a teacher from East High and her program, Technique for Tough Times in place of Color of Success? My records indicate that Colors of Success is the District’s designated “Sole Provider” [9] for Gang Prevention programs within the District? [10]

I have as of yet to receive a response from the Superintendent.

On July 31, 2016 – I sent Superintendent Cunningham correspondence that she acknowledged receiving, yet as of this writing, has not responded to my requests in that email. I here renew one of them:

In light of the fact that I have received multiple reports of administrators utilizing District resources in order to generate income for their private sector business, I would request copies of all “conflict of interest” declared by employees of the District as required by state statute: “An employee shall declare a potential conflict of interest…”[11]

On August 2, 2016 – During a regularly scheduled meeting of the Board, I once again renewed my request for details on the finances of the District and a current organizational chart of the departments and personnel on the District level. [12]

On August 3, 2016 – I did receive scant information (four pages) on Title I expenditures. However, it is not to the level of detail that I require in order to make decisions on the finances of the District. [13]

On August 25, 2016 – I submitted a GRAMA request to Superintendent Cunningham, “formally” requesting information on the finances of the District, which I had previously “informally” requested but had not yet received. [14]

On September 2, 2016 – After receiving no response from Superintendent Cunningham, which under GRAMA is considered a denial, I sent a GRAMA appeal to your attention. [15]

Later that day, I did receive a response to my initial GRAMA request from the Superintendent’s attorney, Kristina Kindl, who advised me that I would be provided the requested information upon payment of $337.50.

On September 10, 2016 – I received a certified letter from you stating that my appeal was “moot” because you were asserting that attorney Kindle’s (Superintendent’s legal counsel) reply to my email was within the specified timeline under GRAMA. I don’t agree with your math, nevertheless, I am submitting yet another GRAMA appeal in the form of this correspondence. In your rejection letter, you duplicitously admonish me as follows:

…Please keep in mind that as an elected board member, you can request district information through the informal process provided for in Board Policy B-1: Board of Education Legal Status, Responsibilities, and Ethics.

This Policy outlines the process through which board members can receive information necessary for the performance of their elected duties, and receive such information free of charge, and may, if appropriate, provide you with information that is not available to the general public. ^[16]

You will note that I have documented numerous instances that I did indeed “request district information through the informal process” which includes negative responses from you.

On September 12, 2016 – I am submitting this GRAMA Denial Appeal to you, in your capacity as the Chief Administrative Officer of the District as prescribed in GRAMA.

APPEAL
I am appealing Superintendent Cunningham’s decision to charge me $337.50. for information on the finances of the District as my “legal rights are directly implicated by the information in the records” that I am requesting[17] as I am a duly elected member of the Board of Education. [18] Current Utah law states that local Board members are elected by a vote of the people.  ^[19] The law further states the following:

“…an elected member of a local school board serves and represents the residents of the local school board member’s district, and that service and representation may not be restricted or impaired by the local school board member’s membership on, or obligations to, the local school board.” ^[20]

Among other responsibilities state statue endows a local Board of Education with the following responsibilities: ^[21]

Implement training programs for school administrators, including basic management training, best practices in instructional methods, budget training, staff management, managing for learning results and continuous improvement, and how to help every child achieve optimal learning in core academics.

• Local school boards shall spend minimum school program funds for programs and activities for which the State Board of Education has established minimum standards or rules under Section 53A-1-402.

• Each school board shall adopt and implement a comprehensive emergency response plan to prevent and combat violence in its public schools, on school grounds, on its school vehicles, and in connection with school-related activities or events.

• A board shall do all other things necessary for the maintenance, prosperity, and success of the schools and the promotion of education.
  

Additionally, the Board of Education Handbook^[22], which has the force of policy states the following:  

The powers and mandatory duties of the Board of Education are defined in the Utah Code and State Board of Education Rule. They are divided among executive, legislative, and quasi-judicial responsibilities, as follows:

Executive
1. Select and appoint the Superintendent of Schools.
2. Select and appoint the Business Administrator.
3. Continuously appraise the educational and administrative management of the school system, through the evaluation of the superintendent and business administrator.
4. Periodically adopt a multi-year strategic plan. In the Salt Lake City School District this is called the Student Achievement Plan.
5. Communicate and meet with community members, staff, and students, both to receive feedback and communicate board views on educational issues.
6. Approve collective bargaining agreements.

Legislative
1. Develop, adopt, and interpret policies.
2. Adopt operating and capital budgets.
3. Approve curriculum guides and courses of study.
4. Establish school boundaries.
5. Advance a legislative agenda.
6. Advise and approve decisions on facility, procurement, and financial matters as necessary.
7. Authorize legal settlements.

Quasi-Judicial

1. Decide appeals of the superintendent’s administrative decisions.

Moreover, Utah law places school Superintendents and Business Administrators in a subordinate position to the local Board of Education. ^[23] Speaking of the Superintendent and Business Administrator, current Board policy^[24] states the following:

“The board expects these appointed officers to work together, with district employees and members of the board, to promote student learning.

The board further expects that the business administrator and superintendent will exemplify the highest standards of professional competence and ethical conduct…The board expects the superintendent to discharge all of his or her statutory duties and to consult with and inform the board about school operations and problems in timely, accurate, and appropriate ways. …The superintendent is accountable to the board for his or her performance.”

SHAME ON YOU AND SUPERINTENDENT CUNNINGHAM!
In spite of the statutory authority of the Board and the subordinated position of that you and Superintendent Cunningham occupy in relation to my elected office; I have had to resort to submitting GRAMA request in order to obtain information needed to carryout the duties assigned to me by the State Legislature and given to me by my neighbors at the ballot box. In denying me information on the finances of the District the two of you have effectively silenced the voice of the citizens in District 2.

I would surmise that you will find no other local elected official in the state of Utah that is forced to submit GRAMA requests in order to obtain information from the very agency that the elected official oversees. Yet in this case, newly hire hired Superintendent Cunningham has denied my verbal and written request for information and has now denied my GRAMA request in the form of charging me a $337.50 for the information I am seeking.

As you are aware, during my first year of serving on the Board of Education, I submitted a GRAMA request and received the following clarification from the late John E. Robson of Fabian, Attorneys At Law. At the time, Mr. Robson was serving as the attorney to the Board of Education. In part he stated the following:

“…As you know a GRAMA request only entitles a person to inspect and obtain copies of public documents.  It does not entitle a person to documents that are protected or private.  … However, in your position as a Board member you have the ability to review protected and private information as long there is a valid educational or business reason to do so. 

Thus, the District wants to provide to you all of the information you might need to carry out your responsibilities…As a board member you have the same duty as the District to make sure that you do not disclose protected or private information…” [25]

Subsequent GRAMA responses from the Superintendent personal attorney used the following language:

“…as I have done in my prior responses to your GRAMA requests, you have been provided with both public and protected information. Obviously as a board member you are entitled to view documents not available to the general public, but all protected information that is being provided to you as a board member must be kept and maintained in a confidential manner.” ^[26]

Additionally, here is the language in a GRAMA response I received late last year:

“As we have discussed, because you are a member of the Salt Lake City School District Board of Education, your access to documents is not the same as the general public’s access. Due to your position as a board member, you are being provided with certain draft documents which are responsive to your request…Accordingly, I am providing you with two distinct sets of documents; one set comprises the documents I would provide to the requesting members of the public, and the other set contains confidential information, including private and protected information, which you are entitled to view based on your position as a board member. As always, all private and protected information that is being provided to you as a board member must be kept and maintained in a confidential manner and must not be disclosed.” ^[27]

Clearly, the Superintendent’s attorney, acknowledged my elected office and recognized that my access to records is different from that of the “general public”, yet in this instance, I am to be assessed a fee of $337.50 in order to view the records about the finances of the District.

While a local school board member is not mentioned in GRAMA, I do believe that the exceptions provided in §63G-2-206 apply to me in terms of what I am seeking i.e.

“…request the record in relation to the Legislature’s [local board member] duties including: preparation in review of a [board policy and] legislative proposal or legislation; appropriations [local school budget] or an investigation or review…” ^[28]

GRAMA does allow for the “sharing” of “private, controlled, or a protected record” ^[29] between governmental entities; where is the logic in denying the request of an elected member of the governing body over one of those governmental agencies?

In conclusion, I am embarrassed that as a duly elected member of the Salt Lake City Board of Education, I am having to expend an inordinate amount of time and energy in an effort to receive information on the most basic aspects of this school district. In requiring me to ask for request information in multiple venues and formats, you and the Superintendent have displayed distain for elected officials, which stands as a blatant example and symbol of everything that is wrong with public education in the state of Utah.

Accordingly, GRAMA encourages agencies to fulfill a records request without charge.[30]

Based on Utah Code §63g -2-203 (4a), I am appealing the fee of $337.50 that has been assessed and I am requesting a waiver of copy costs because releasing the records primarily benefits the public rather than a person as the “person” requesting the information is a duly elected member of the governing body [31] of the government agency and therefore “entitled by law to inspect the record”.

Equally persuasive, the Utah Legislature has established that “an elected member of a local school board serves and represents the residents of the local school board member’s district, and that service and representation may not be restricted or impaired by the local school board member’s membership on, or obligations to, the local school board.” [32]

I have sent a courtesy copy of this appeal to the State Auditor. I have sent a courtesy copy to my state Senator and the Senate President as they are in the process of reviewing a local elected official’s ability to obtain information from the very agency over which that elected official has governing authority.
Shalom,

J. Michael Clára
Board Member, District 2

09/12/16 GRAMA Denial Appeal in PDF

09/08/16 Roberts Response

09/02/16 Attorney Kindl Response w/Invoice

09/02/16 First GRAMA Appeal

08/25/16 GRAMA REQUEST

TEXT OF LETTER TO SUPERINTENDENT:

25 August 2016

DELIVERED VIA ELECTRONIC MAIL & USPS

Ms. Alexa Cunningham, Superintendent
℅ Salt Lake City School District
440 East 100 South
Salt Lake City, Utah 84111-1891

Re: DISTRICT FINANCES ► GANG PREVENTION EXPENDITURES

Dear Dr. Cunningham,

Acting under the authority of my elected office, and in my official capacity as a member of the Salt Lake City Board of Education, I submit the following request on behalf of the residents of Salt Lake City, District 2. [1]

Pursuant to Government Records Access Management Act (GRAMA), [2] I am requesting a copy of all records (a book, letter, document, paper, map, plan, photograph, film, card, tape, recording, electronic data, electronic mail or other documentary material regardless of physical form or characteristics) in reference to or regarding the following:

1. Gang Prevention expenditures by school and District for the period of July 1, 2015 to the present.
2. Title I expenditures by school and district for the period of July 1, 2015 to the present.
3. Expenditures for At-Risk Students by school and District for the period of July 1, 2015 to the present.
4. The disbursement of the funds that the District receives from Salt Lake City Redevelopment Agency
5. Copies of all conflict of interest declarations submitted by current and former District employees
6. Additionally, I am renewing my request for an organizational chart of the District administration.
   1. As I indicated in that August 2^nd Board meeting, I am particularly interested in where the newly created positions of Family Outreach Specialist will fit into the organization and not compete or duplicate the services provided by other positions in the District i.e. Family /School Collaboration Director, Community Learning Center Coordinator, Title I Director, Community Education Specialist etc…

i.      Please provide me the names of employees in these positions and who they report to;

ii.       Please provide me job descriptions for these job titles

iii.      I am also interested to know under which Chief on the Associate Superintendent level in the current administration they fall under.

GANG ACTIVITY
On August 23, 2016 – A 16 year old was shot by two others in front of the Dual Immersion Academy, Charter School in my neighborhood. It is my understanding that neither the victim nor suspects attended that school. The location of this shooting was within three blocks of Parkview Elementary and Mountainview Elementary. [3]

On August 24, 2016 – Two other Juveniles were held hostage, pistol whipped and gasoline poured on them in Salt Lake City’s westside.[4]  While the police are reporting the suspects are from California, both victims and suspects are known by our students within our school District.

BACKGROUND
On July 2, 2016– I sent you an email renewing my request for information on the finances of the District. I in part stated the following:

“I am also wanting to see a copy of the Gang Prevention application that submitted to the Sate Office of Education. I am being told that Colors of Success is being eliminated from the District. If that is true, then I submit that this District is placing the community in danger if we are eliminating this type of gang prevention program” [5]

On July 29, 2016 – I received a copy of the Gang Prevention and Intervention proposal submitted to the State Office of Education by Business Administrator Janet Roberts and Chief Operations Officers, Larry Madden. [6]

The proposal confirmed what I was being told, that Administrator Roberts and Chief Madden did indeed eliminate Colors of Success as the District’s gang intervention program. From a procurement standpoint, [7] can you please advise me what process Administrator Roberts and Chief Madden followed in order to utilize the services of a teacher from East High and her program, Technique for Tough Times in place of Color of Success? My records indicate that Colors of Success is the District’s designated “Sole Provider” [8] for Gang Prevention programs within the District. [9]

Moreover, In a May 6, 2014, Board of Education meeting, we were discussing the School Improvement Plans and Dr. Laurie Lacey (Title I Director) stated that Techniques for Tough Times (Social Studies elective) is “not a gang intervention program”. [10] How does Administrator Roberts and Chief Madden justify their actions on this matter? The grant application also states that Administrator Roberts and Chief Madden entered into an agreement with the Salt Lake Area Gang Project for gang intervention services. I find it curious that prior to the June 7, 2016, Board meeting starting, I asked Administrator Roberts what was the District spending $20,000.00 on Salt Lake Area Gang Project, when Colors of Success is our gang intervention program. [11]

Administrator Roberts claimed to not know and then asked Chief Madden who said he did not know. After the meeting, Chief Madden showed me a text message he received from the Student Services Director stating that she is the one that expended the funds. I then asked him:

“For what purpose was the funding used”?

Chief Madden said that he did not know and that he would get back to me. He never did.

When I finally received a copy of the grant application, I discovered that the Roberts and Madden hired five advocates that work for the Salt Lake Area Gang Project. I find it curious that both Roberts and Madden denied any knowledge of the Salt Lake Area Gang Project, yet these two were the ones that signed off on the grant application. Furthermore, in the assurances of the grant application, these two affirm that the application was authorized by the Salt Lake City Board of Education. They also state that the decision to abandon Colors of Success and hire Technique for Tough Times and the Salt Lake Area Gang Project was agreed to by the District’s Gang Prevention and Intervention Advisory Council. They also references statistical data that appears to be missing.

Accordingly, please provide me copies of the following:

1. Copy of the list showing the membership of the District’s Gang Prevention and Intervention Advisory Council
2. Copy of the agenda and minutes to the meetings convened by the advisory council
3. Copy of agenda or minutes to a meeting where the Board of Education authorized the District to submit this application to USOE
4. Copy of the RFP Process and contract associated with  Technique for Tough Times program
5. Copy of the RFP Process and contract associated with the Salt Lake Area Gang Project
6. Copy of Appendix A & B referenced in the application but not included

Roberts and Madden state that the District hired five advocates from the Salt Lake Area Gang Project to work on gang intervention with five schools: West High, Glendale, Northwest, Meadowlark and Jackson Elementary. When I called those schools and asked to speak to the advocate assigned to the school, the person on the phone had no idea what I was talking about. Where are the advocates? Where is the money?

Furthermore, you will recall that during this past budget cycle, in public board meetings and in private meetings with you, I alerted you to the fact that it appeared that members of the administration were stripping the District of its current gang prevention / intervention program. In those same meetings I also requested information on the expenditures of the District for Title I and Gang Prevention expenditures.

On July 31, 2016 – I sent you correspondence that you acknowledged receiving, yet have not responded to my requests in the letter. I here renew one of them

In light of the fact that I have received multiple reports of administrators utilizing District resources in order to generate income for their private sector business, I would request copies of all “conflict of interest” declared by employees of the District as required by state statute: “An employee shall declare a potential conflict of interest…”[12]

On August 3, 2016 – I did receive scant information (four pages) on Title I expenditures. [13]  However, it is not to the level of detail that I require in order to make decisions on the finances of the District. To that end I am renewing the request under GRAMA.

Accordingly, GRAMA encourages agencies to fulfill a records request without charge.[14] Based on Utah Code §63g -2-203 (4a), I am requesting a waiver of copy costs because releasing the records primarily benefits the public rather than a person: 

“In enacting this chapter, the Legislature finds and declares that the state, its agencies and political subdivisions, exist to aid in the conduct of the people’s business. It is the intent of the law that their actions be taken openly and that their deliberations be conducted openly” [15]

Furthermore, my “legal rights are directly implicated by the information in the record” [16] as I am an elected member of the Board of Education. [17] Consequently, I recognize that you will respond to my request within 5 business days, as permitted by GRAMA. [18]

I have sent a courtesy copy of this letter to the Mayor and members of her staff as I believe that we need to work in partnership with City to address the gang issue in our community. I have sent a courtesy copy to the State Auditor as yet another example of where District employees are acting on behalf of the Board in violation of state statutes and Board policy. I have sent a courtesy copy to my state Senator and the Senate President as they are in the process of reviewing a local elected official’s ability to obtain information from the very agency over which that elected official has governing authority.

Shalom,

J. Michael Clára
Board Member, District 2

cc:
Senator Niederhauser, President
Senator Escamilla, Minority Assistant Whip
Utah State Auditor John Dougall
Mayor Biskupski, Salt Lake City

The U.S. Department of Education – Office for Civil Rights is investigating the Salt Lake City School District for retaliation. 

Board president Heather Bennett recently advised me that the District was going to start charging me $45.00 an hour for the time it takes to gather information in response to request I make for data or information.

I objected and stated that as an elected member of the Board of Education, I would not pay for information or data that I request.

The idea that a member of the governing body of a government agency will have to pay for information flies in the face of transparency, accountability and open government. 

Does the City send a bill to City Council members when they ask for information? Do members of the legislature pay a fee for information that they request?

This is the MODUS OPERANDI  for this administration, they exact retribution on anyone that raises a concern or expresses a desire to improve the educational outcome for our most at risk students. Many a teacher and parent can attest to this.

Even more insulting is the fact that the current Board President, Heather Bennett is complicit in assisting the District administration in concealing their actions from public view.

To that end, I filed a retaliation complaint with the Office for Civil Rights. After serving on the Board for three years, they now want me to pay a fee for information? Really?

I received notification today, that OCR will initiate an investigation:

PDF Version of Email I sent to Board President

PDF OF OCR Response

Kristina Kindl -Superintendent’s Attorney

There She Goes Again !
The Misclassification of Another Document

In June of this year, I became aware that the District had commissioned a performance Audit on the Human Resource Department.

I sent an email to Superintendent Withers, requesting a copy of the Audit.

On July 7, 2015, the Superintendent’s personal Attorney, Ms. Kindle emails me a copy of the Audit and states the following:

The Report is marked “Confidential”
and that status must be preserved by you
and the other board members who are viewing the report

On August 17, 2015, I submitted a GRAMA request for the HR Report. Board Policy C-7 is the records management policy. It states that documents are classified utilizing the standards set forth in GRAMA. I could not understand how the document could not be disclosed and utilized by District employees.

On August 18, 2015, Ms. Kindl responded:

As I indicated in my email, the report was marked “confidential” …Insofar as you have now submitted a GRAMA request,
the district agrees that under the law
the report is a public document

So, this is yet another example of what I call the:

Cannibalization of Public Education

It is as though these high paid employees (i.e. Superintendent & his Attorney)  sit around trying to think up ways to keep information from me and the public. At that, they are not very successful.

One of the highlights of the HR Audit, confirms a concern that I raised the first year that I was on the Board. A concern that I was mocked and belittled for raising:

The lowest performing schools
often have difficulty finding and keeping
talented teachers…Leveling the playing field
so that high-needs schools can compete for the best talent
is one of the more important human capital strategies a district can initiate 

Attorney Kindle Email

Michael’s GRAMA Request

District’s GRAMA Response

HR Audit

YOU WILL PAY FOR GRAMA REQUEST!

Michael's Email Response:

Wed, Sep 2, 2015 at 6:27 PM

From: Michael Clára <donmiguelslc@gmail.com>
To: Heather Bennett <Heather.Bennett@slcschools.org>

Re: GRAMA Requests, Pending and Future

President Heather Bennett,
You will recall, I did not attend last night’s Board meeting because I believe that the manner in which the attorney hired to represent the Board of Education was done in violation of the Board’s policies and in violation of Utah’s Procurement Code as well as Utah’s Open and Public Meeting Act.

You can expect not to see me at future Board meetings until that issue is resolved. Because you denied my request to place the issue on the agenda, does not mean I too will ignore the violations.

As to the threat of charging me a fee for requested documents; I will continue to request information through whatever means is most effective. If my asking for information is ignored or dismissed, I will utilize Utah’s GRAMA statute, as I have consistently been doing.

When I am no longer a member of the Board of Education, then request will be made by Michael the citizen. In the mean time, please understand, the requests I do submit, are made in the name of those that elected me -THE PEOPLE of Salt Lake City’s West-Side.

You may not be aware, that under GRAMA there is a provision for the agency to wave fees. As I indicate in my requests: Utah Code §63g­2­203(4) encourages agencies to fulfill a records request without charge. Based on Utah Code §63g ­2­203 (4a), I am requesting a waiver of copy costs because releasing the records primarily benefits the public rather than a person. Furthermore, based on Utah Code §63g ­2­203 (4c) my “legal rights are directly implicated by the information in the record” as I am an elected member of the Board of Education (see Utah Code §53A­3­402).

Should the District choose to now start assessing fees or a fine for information, I can assure you that I will not pay!

I will instead exercise my right under GRAMA and appeal that decision to the State Records Committee if need be.

The last time I went to the Records Committee with an appeal, the information I was seeking was provided to me in spite of the bureaucracy wasting tax payer dollars on three attorneys in an effort to deny my request.

I would betray the trust given to me, by those that elected me, if I allowed this institutional dysfunction to intimidate me into being ignorant and void of required information. “It will not be denied that power is of an encroaching nature and that it ought to be effectually restrained from passing the limits assigned to it” (Federalist 48).

This is yet another example of what I call the “cannibalization of public education”. The very agency that I have oversight for, utilizes its resources to prevent me from obtaining information.

Information that I require in order to set policy, budget and the direction of the District. As a member of the Board of Education, I should not even have to submit a GRAMA request. That is however, the only effective way I have been able to obtain information that I need in order to adequately represent the interest of my community.

By way of illustration, I currently have a group of employees reporting to me that the District did not contribute the appropriate amount of funding into their Utah Retirement System accounts. When I sent an email to the administration inquiring about this accusation, I was told that the situation is rectified and that the employee accounts are now current.

When I sent an email to Business Administrator Janet Roberts, asking how this happen, she had the Superintendent’s Attorney Kristina Kindl reply to my email by telling me what I already knew. Ms. Kindl ends her email by telling me to direct further questions to the Superintendent or the Board President.

When I asked for the dollar amount that was used to back-fill the difference in the URS accounts, I am told that it is a “closed door session” issue and any answers will be provided in only that context.

How are finances of the district a “closed door” issue? I find no record where the Board approved millions of dollars going to URS because someone in the District allocated funding to ….. well there is the rub, I don’t know where the original funding went or who approved the allocation of back-fill funding.

Needless to say, it is contrary to Utah law to expend education monies without an official act of the Board of Education!

So, this is how an issue graduates to a GRAMA request. You really think that threatening to make me pay for this GRAMA request will prevent me from getting to the bottom of this URS fiasco?

The part you and the Superintendent are missing, is that this is a PUBLIC school system, not a private one. This is the people’s money, not the Withers & Roberts fund.

The people and their elected representatives have every right to know how the business of the District is being conducted. I have a right to know why money budgeted for retirement was used for some other purpose!

The employees that were shorted have a right to know what happen!

Nevertheless, I have every confidence that the law is greater than a bureaucracy that wants to conduct business in secret and out of the public eye for its own ends. Federalist 48 tells us “It will not be denied that power is of an encroaching nature and that it ought to be effectually restrained from passing the limits assigned to it”.

This latest ploy will only serve to embarrass the administration and expose them for who they really are. I have been consistent in demonstrating that these types of maneuvers on the part of the District administration do not slow me down nor do they detour me from serving the people that elected me. Shame on you for promoting the interest of an out of control bureaucracy over that of the citizens of Salt Lake City.

Un abrazo,

Michael Clára
Board Member, District 2

PDF Version of Email

See: www.teabreakfast.com

Two years ago, one of my neighbors, Maureen Minson introduced me to the concept of the School to Prison Pipeline. Maureen was facing obstacles by the adults in the school system as she tried to educate parents and students about their rights when it comes to dealing with school suspensions. At the time Maureen was a student at the S.J. Quinney College of Law at the University of Utah.

I was later reintroduced to the School to Prison Pipeline through my work with Racially Just Utah.

As a member of the Salt Lake City Board of Education, I have been attempting to address the use of full-time Salt Lake City Police Officer’s in West side schools.

Earlier this year it became apparent to me, that Superintendent McKell Withers and the Board President Heather Bennett were either indifferent to the damage being done to our students or they simply did not care.

As I have often said, as an elected official, my obligation is to my community not to the bureaucracy that is tasked with educating our children, yet refuses to hear the concerns of the community.

To that end, on May, 5, 2015 – I filed a complaint with U.S. Department of Educations Office for Civil Rights (OCR):

Complaint Letter to OCR (PDF)

On August, 15, 2105 – I received a response from OCR:

OCR Notification of Investigation (PDF)

BACKGROUND:

Disproportionate Police Presence (Video: Board Meeting 02/17/15)

Mexican Bandito at the Board of Education (Video: Board Meeting 03/07/15)

Superintendent: Police in the Schools is a GOOD THING! (video 03/17/15)

School board member dons ‘Bandito’ costume to protest police presence at meetings (Salt Lake Tribune)

School board member wears “Frito Bandito” costume to meetings as protest (KUTV)

‘Frito bandito’ protesting at SLC school board (ABC 4 Utah)

Why One School Board Member In Utah Has Started Wearing A Sombrero To Meetings (Huffington Post)

Clara: “Frito Bandito” Costume Highlights Unfair Treatment of Minority Students (KUER Radio)

Trib Talk with Jennifer Napier-Pearce: Clara & Bennett (Video: 04/13/15)

To Write a Wrong (City Weekly 04/29/15)

Speaking Truth to Power: Fahina Pasi (Video: Board Meeting 05/05/15)

Michael Clara of the Salt Lake City School Board explains to Rod why he is dressing as a Mexican Bandito for recent school board meetings -Rod Arquette Show (KNRS Radio)

Utah GOP leader learned to avoid confrontations with cops (Standard Examiner 06/23/15)

GRAMA Appeals Hearing (08/13/15)

MEDIA COVERAGE OF FEDERAL INVESTIGATION:

Select Media Coverage of OCR Investigation

Deseret News: Salt Lake School District Under Federal Investigation for Claims of Discrimination

Tribune: Feds Investigating Claims of Racial Discrimination in Salt Lake City Schools