Sumter School District’s Board of Trustees has provided no emails, text messages or other documentation of complaints from school parents or teachers pertaining to transition difficulties at R.E. Davis College Preparatory Academy this year.
The Sumter Item asked to review any such documents in a Freedom of Information Act request from more than a month ago. In a letter last week in response to the newspaper’s Feb. 22 request, district Executive Director of Communications Shelly Galloway said trustees had not provided her any formal complaints made via email from parents or teachers. She did say some board members said they had received complaints from conversations with people.
Jay Bender, attorney for the South Carolina Press Association, said last week it’s his perspective that if board members have emails or other documentation on complaints related to R.E. Davis this year and they use that information in a public meeting, then it’s a public record. Therefore, it should be submitted to the newspaper as part of its request. (Read more here…)