Tennessee School Boards Association

7 Jul, 2020

Judge rules Tennessee School Boards Association is ‘functional equivalent’

By |2020-07-07T14:29:48-05:00July 7, 2020|Categories: functional equivalent, public records lawsuits Tennessee|Tags: , , |0 Comments

A Davidson County judge ruled Monday that the Tennessee School Boards Association is subject to the state public records law because it is a functional equivalent of a government agency. Chancellor Patricia Head Moskal ruled that the Tennessee School Boards Association is subject to the public records law as a functional equivalent of a government agency. "As a functional equivalent of a governmental agency, the public records in the possession of TSBA, including its training materials, communications regarding its legislative agendas, and its position statements on stated education law and funding, are public records subject to he provisions of the TPRA," Chancellor Patricia Head Moskal wrote in her ruling. (See [...]

19 Dec, 2019

Williamson County mother files public records suit against Tennessee School Boards Association

By |2020-02-23T10:12:43-06:00December 19, 2019|Categories: functional equivalent, public records lawsuits Tennessee|Tags: , , |0 Comments

A Williamson County mother, represented by the Beacon Center of Tennessee, has filed a public records lawsuit against the Tennessee School Boards Association after being denied access to the association's records. The lawsuit, Marren v. Tennessee School Boards Association, claims that the association is the "functional equivalent" of a government entity under the functional equivalent doctrine established by the Tennessee Supreme Court, and thus its records are subject to the Public Records Act. The school board association, in denying public records requests from Karrie Marren, claimed it was "a private, nonprofit organization" and was not subject to the Tennessee Public Records Act. Marren had requested: TSBA's training materials for school [...]

2 Sep, 2016

Tennessee School Boards Association files amicus in Sumner Schools public records appeal

By |2019-12-19T14:23:57-06:00September 2, 2016|Categories: public records lawsuits Tennessee, requests|Tags: , , , , |0 Comments

The Tennessee School Boards Association, which collects dues and represents nearly all school districts in the state, has filed an amicus with the Court of Appeals in a public records case against the Sumner County Board of Education. From left: Citizen Ken Jakes and Sumner Schools attorneys Todd Presnell and Jim Fuqua listen the judge's ruling that the school district violated the Tennessee Public Records Act. The Sumner County school district hopes to overturn a ruling by a judge that it violated the Tennessee Public Records Act when it refused to let citizen activist Ken Jakes see a copy of its public records policy. The school board argued that [...]

5 May, 2016

AG: Search firm records are open in school director search, Open Meetings Act may apply

By |2017-01-06T15:25:27-06:00May 5, 2016|Categories: Attorney General Opinions, schools|Tags: , , , , |0 Comments

The Attorney General in a new opinion says that records in a school director search are open for public inspection, even if the records were obtained by a third party hired by a school board to conduct the search. The entity might also be subject to the Open Meetings Act, depending on factors such as the circumstances of its involvement with the government body, its authority and its structure, the AG said. State Sen. Mike Bell, R-Riceville State Sen. Mike Bell, R-Riceville, said he requested the opinion because some constituents were concerned about the transparency of the search to fill the Cleveland City School's director position. The school board hired the [...]

28 Aug, 2015

TCOG plans comment for public records hearings: New fees would choke off citizen oversight

By |2015-08-30T03:24:20-05:00August 28, 2015|Categories: fees, Tennessee Coalition for Open Government|Tags: , , , , |0 Comments

The Office of Open Records Counsel is conducting public records hearings in Knoxville, Nashville and Jackson in September to ask the question: Should the Tennessee Public Records Act permit the government to charge citizens to inspect public records? The Tennessee Coalition for Open Government believes that charging citizens to view public records would make it easier for some government officials to block citizen access to records. We believe that the result of a change in Tennessee law would be immediate: Some citizens would no longer be able to view public records because they could not afford to pay the fees. The change would roll back Tennessee’s legal tradition of favoring [...]

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