Transparency struggles persist at Thompson School District

From The Complete Colorado:  Transparency still comes with a hefty price tag in Thompson School District.

Loveland resident and Liberty Watch co-founder Nancy Rumfelt filed a March 19 Colorado Open Records Act request for a little more than three months of school district emails including the names of school board members or the terms “reform” or “new school board majority.” She didn’t expect the request would bring a charge of $3,490.

But that’s exactly the amount Thompson’s public information officer Mike Hausmann quoted in his March 21 response. Estimating 45 seconds to review each individual record, Hausmann said the request would necessitate payment for 104 hours of staff time at a rate of $35 per hour ($150 is discounted from the request, per board policy). His response said 8,329 emails were identified for the requested period of December 1, 2013, to March 19, 2014.

“With all of the focus recently on the need for the school board and the district to be transparent, why does the district still insist on making basic information UNAFFORDABLE for citizens?” Rumfelt replied in her March 26 email.

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