As a publicly funded entity, most transactions by the DeKalb County School District are a matter of public record.
When The Atlanta Journal-Constitution asked why Chief Human Capital Management Officer Leo Brown hadn't been seen for months, district officials did not supply an answer.
“Wow,” said Charles N. Davis, dean of the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia. “This is a fundamental threshold public access question, and one I simply can see no defense for. The (Georgia Open Records) Act exists to shed light on government performance. If one’s duties in office are not subject to disclosure under the public records act, then I’m not sure what is.”
The district’s responses came after The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that Brown had not been seen since before the Winter break. “Dr. Brown is still employed by the district,” was the first.
It came a week after Brown’s employment status was requested.
The second was a press release where Brown thanked the district for its support as he battled “health challenges.” That came two days after DeKalb County Board of Education member Stan Jester reported on his blog that Brown would be reassigned to another position in the district, where he would continue receiving his $175,000 salary for a job where pay ranged between $57,000 and $64,000.
The Georgia Open Records Act states that requested documents should be available within three days of request. If they are not, the agency must respond within three business days with a timeline for when the documents would be available.
“A public agency’s failure to respond to an open records request is a violation of the open records act,” said Hollie Manheimer, executive director of the Georgia First Amendment Foundation. “It is mandatory, not optional, to respond to an open records request in Georgia and in all states.”
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