South Carolina Supreme Court to decide how public agencies reveal finalists for top jobs
The South Carolina Supreme Court is expected to decide how public agencies reveal who the finalists are for top jobs after hearing arguments in a case involving Spartanburg District 7 and a newspaper. The Spartanburg Herald-Journal sued the school district in 2003 after the district refused to release information on finalists for superintendent. State law requires public agencies to release no fewer than the final three applicants in the hiring process, but the school board said it wasn’t required to release its finalists because there were only two. Last year, a state appellate court judge ruled in the newspaper’s favor, and the board appealed. “The boards never want to disclose a durned thing,” Chief Justice Jean Toal said during the court hearing. “The School Boards Association spends an inordinate amount of time trying to figure out how not to disclose all these people that are applying for superintendent’s positions.” Carlos Johnson, the school district’s attorney, says the school district is looking for clarification on what the state’s Freedom of Information Act requires public bodies to release. The lawsuit does not address when those names have to be released, though media advocates say it should be before the hiring decision is made. “The legislative intent of the law is that the public know ahead of time so the public can have input,” says Bill Rogers, executive director of the South Carolina Press Association. The court is expected to issue an opinion within the next few months.
Myrtle Beach Sun News
By Associated Press
[Full story]
[Editor’s Note: The competing considerations of openness and the candidates’ confidentiality as to their current employers are discussed in the Washington Post article excerpted below.]
[NSBA School Law pages on superintendent hiring]