schools Archives - Page 2 of 3 - Tennessee Coalition for Open Government

30 Apr, 2015

Nashville school board to consider more transparency for charter schools

By Deborah Fisher|2015-08-18T07:50:48-05:00April 30, 2015|Categories: schools|Tags: Annenberg Institute for School Reform, charter schools, Metro Nashville school board, Nashville|0 Comments

Nashville's school board is scheduled to discuss tonight potential adoption of public accountability standards for charter schools that would require, among other things, more transparency about how they operate and how public money is spent. Charter schools in Tennessee are already required to abide by the state's Open Meetings Act (T.C.A. 49-13-138) and Public Records Act (T.C.A. 49-13-140), as well as abide by whatever governance requirements laid out by the school district that granted the charters. But instances of fraud and malfeasance by charter school operators across the country have prompted school advocates and lawmakers in some states to propose additional accountability measures that provide more transparency for charter schools. Nashville's [...]

11 Aug, 2014

Nashville school board moves to increase charter school transparency

By Deborah Fisher|2015-08-18T07:51:31-05:00August 11, 2014|Categories: schools|Tags: charter schools, Nashville, The Tennessean|0 Comments

Reporter Joey Garrison's story this weekend in The Tennessean is a good one about increasing charter school transparency. While some might think it's as much politics as anything behind the motivation to require charter schools in Nashville to publish financial documents on the Metro Public Schools website, it's a proactive measure that all local governments can take, even before there is a controversy. Good to see that the school board decided to require the same of all Metro Nashville schools, not just charter schools. Our open government laws (open meetings and open records) apply to charter schools the same way they do to all other public schools. I don't see many [...]

20 Jun, 2014

Cleveland newspaper wins release of superintendent evaluations after Open Records dispute

By Deborah Fisher|2019-09-11T18:49:44-05:00June 20, 2014|Categories: schools|Tags: Bradley County, Cleveland Daily Banner, evaluation forms, Office o, open records, school records|0 Comments

The Bradley County Board of Education released individual evaluation forms of its superintendent to the Cleveland Daily Banner late yesterday but continued to contend the public documents were exempt from the Tennessee Public Records Act. After the board initially refused to disclose the superintendent evaluations, the newspaper contacted Office of Open Records Counsel Elisha Hodge who wrote that it was her opinion that the documents should be released and she was "unaware of any provision within the law that makes these particular records confidential." "In Tennessee, in order for the public to be denied access to a records that exists, the record has to be confidential pursuant to a provision within the [...]

1 May, 2014

Appeals court: TSSAA subject to Public Records Act

By Deborah Fisher|2020-02-23T10:11:53-06:00May 1, 2014|Categories: functional equivalent, public records lawsuits Tennessee, schools|Tags: Claudia Bonnyman, Court of Appeals, Frank G. Clement Jr., functional equivalent, litigation, schools, Southcomm, TSSAA|0 Comments

The Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association meets the standards of a "functional equivalent" of government and therefore is subject to the Tennessee Public Records Act, an appeals court in Nashville ruled today. The decision means the organization, which was created in 1925 and has an annual budget of $5 million, must abide by the same rules as government agencies when it comes to access to its records. Court of Appeals Judge Frank G. Clement Jr. The case arose in 2012 after TSSAA refused to give The City Paper records related to an investigation into tuition for athletes at Montgomery Bell Academy, arguing it was not subject to the [...]

14 Apr, 2014

Charter schools win teleconferencing exception to open meetings

By Deborah Fisher|2015-08-18T07:53:12-05:00April 14, 2014|Categories: Legislature, Open Meetings, schools|Tags: charter schools, teleconferencing, Tennessee Open Meetings Act|0 Comments

Charter schools are getting a special carve out in this legislative session with a teleconferencing exception to open meetings law that allows their board members to meet via teleconference, videoconference or other electronic means without having a physical quorum in one location. Charter schools that operate in Tennessee are subject to the state's sunshine laws, meaning their governing bodies must publish notice of upcoming meetings, hold open meetings in which the public can attend and follow all other requirements of the Open Meetings Act. But the new law would give charter school boards the extra ability to meet via teleconference, videoconference or other electronic means as long as they provide a physical [...]