Imagine a mother getting ready to send her daughter off to kindergarten. He asks the school for information about the planned study plan for his little one, but the school swallows him. So the mother tries again, and the school responds by demanding $74,000 in public records fees to access the information. The mother is then sued by the nation's largest teachers union for filing those records requests, even though that's what school officials had asked her to do.
This is the shocking backdrop of Rhode Island mom Nicole Solas last battle for transparency—this time involving the South Kingstown school district's decision to first withhold Nicole's records and then bar her from attending secret meetings of the taxpayer-funded Black, Indigenous and Colored Advisory Council (BIPOC), where the board went develop policies for the district.
Nicole was not about to back down, and as attorneys at the Goldwater Institute's American Freedom of Attorney Network pro bono, we were honored to stand up for her rights and take the school district to court for her violations. of the Rhode Island Public Records Act and Open Meetings Act.
We won this week.
In today's politically charged environment, where schools across the country are turning their classrooms into breeding grounds for prejudice and discrimination, Nicole wanted to know if she was sending her daughter to a den of critical race theory, gender identity, racial hatred and prejudice. And for good reason: In 2020, the South Kingstown School Committee established the BIPOC Advisory Board to determine whether the school district's policies did not promote “inclusion” and “equity,” for a district more ” inclusive and anti-racist”. After the board denied Nicole's requests to open the meetings to the public, she sought transparency through Rhode Island's public records law, only for the district to deny the very existence of public records about the meetings. the board when officials had these records in their possession.
Earlier this year, we filed a lawsuit on Nicole's behalf, demanding the production of those records and a civil penalty against school officials for their willful and deliberate violation of the state's public records law. been
On Monday, Rhode Island Superior Court Judge Joseph McBurney approved a consent judgment with the district to “provide the plaintiff with copies of the responsive records immediately and at no cost to the plaintiff.” The court also approved the parties' consent to the school district paying attorney's fees as well as a civil penalty against the school district.
But it should never have had to come to this. Schools have a legal duty to comply with state public records laws, as well as to tell parents what they are teaching their children; and parents have the absolute right and obligation to be involved in their children's education.
We know firsthand how crucial it is to protect our children from elicited, unfounded, and biased instruction. Like Nicole, we teach our children that the color of someone's skin should not factor into the equation of how we treat other people.
The public education establishment continues to wage war on parents, but brave moms and dads like Nicole aren't backing down, and neither are we. After all, school district policies that hide important information about school operations from parents and the general public must be challenged
We are humbled by Nicole's resilience and tenacity and look forward to finally receiving the simple information she requested three years ago. Let this serve as an example for our children's schools everywhere; bonds are not backing down, and we will win the fight for America's future.
A Learn more about Nicole's story, you can click here. For For more on Goldwater's efforts to promote academic transparency, click here.
Greg Piccirilli and Kevin McCaffrey are Rhode Island attorneys and members of the Goldwater Institute. American Freedom Network. They represented Nicole in her public records lawsuit against the school district.
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