Lawsuit alleging records law violations filed against MMSD

MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) - A conservative law group filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the Madison Metropolitan School District, alleging the district is violating public records law.

The Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty explained Tuesday that it requested records from MMSD regarding the district’s use of “small instructional groups” for “reading, foundational skills, and math” on Jan. 31, 2022. WILL alleges that a whistleblower provided it with a partial copy of an official policy that illegally discriminated against students based on race.

Tom Kamenick, president and founder of law firm Wisconsin Transparency Project, argued that MMSD has had extreme delays in fulfilling records requests.

“How are media organizations supposed to report on what’s happening in a school district if they have to wait for months or a year to get records? How are parents and taxpayers supposed to hold school districts accountable if it takes that long to fulfill simple records requests?” questions Kamenick.

WILL claims multiple organizations and people have faced resistance when trying to obtain public records from the district. The only example given in the news release involved NBC15 News.

“Several requests to the district have remained unfulfilled for more than a year, and they have a long history of problems,” Kamenick said.

WILL claimed that MMSD responded to it in June of 2022, saying the pandemic had caused staffing issues in the district that brought on delays for requests. In a statement from MMSD Tuesday, the district said it has not received any notification by WILL on the lawsuit and that it does not comment on pending lawsuits.

MMSD stated that MMSD policy are created by its Board of Education and that WILL’s news release referred to language found in an “official” document, but clarified that it is not a part of MMSD policy. MMSD said the language used was found in one guidance document, which was modified over a year ago. MMSD also contended that it “strives to create learning spaces where all students, staff and families can thrive” and works to make sure students have support systems in place.

As of January 17, 2023, NBC15 Investigates is in the middle of an almost ten month long records battle with MMSD. Our records request was submitted back in April 2022 for records about a former head football coach at West High School who resigned after coaches, parents and students questioned his character and credibility. MMSD has not fulfilled that request and has no timeline on when the request would be addressed.

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