No one should be surprised by some of the revelations that came with a public records lawsuit filed to obtain digital communications between four school board trustees.
It was pretty clear from their platform what three of the trustees intended to do before they were elected last year.
Communications between newly elected trustees Susan Jansen, Dave Burns, Katherine Dickerson and Doug Englekirk were detailed as exhibits in the lawsuit published at recordcourier.com.
We very much doubt that a lawsuit would have been filed had the trustees complied with the request for their emails and text messages related to their official duties.
When trustees swore to protect and defend both the United States Constitution and government and Nevada’s Constitution and government they took on a very different role.
They became the government by swearing an oath of office under the pains and penalties of perjury.
We’ve always supported transparency and honesty in government, even when it’s embarrassing or inconvenient.
We believe that decisions made in full view of the public are better despite the sometimes messy process to get there.
We wonder why the school board trustees who ran on platforms that they were there for the parents would want to conduct business outside of their view.
We don’t know what’s next for the opposition. So far, we’ve only found one lawsuit seeking public records in district court. There have been six open meeting law complaints against the district, according to the Nevada Attorney General’s Office. Those likely won’t be resolved for at least a year.
On Sunday, the district said a complaint filed against the school board in January 2022 was deemed unfounded. That’s a long time to wait for resolution.
Next year there are four school board seats up for election. If voters want to change course, we imagine there will be candidates willing to carry that water.
