Education

Peninsula School District working way through mask-related records request

Posted on March 3rd, 2022 By: Christina T Henry

Peninsula School District constituents who submitted a large public records request to the school board on Jan. 27 are still waiting to receive the documents, according to Peninsula school officials.

The request seeks documents primarily related to masking and vaccines. Similar or identical versions of the request were received by other districts throughout Washington state.

A cover letter submitted with the request indicates it came from a “body of parents across Washington State” concerned about “the freedom of personal choice over what our teachers and students wear on their faces and put in their bodies.”

The state’s indoor mask requirement will end March 12, including in schools. COVID-19 vaccines or approved exemptions are required for school staff but not for students. An advisory board for the state Department of Health is reviewing the pros and cons of making vaccination against COVID-19 a requirement for students.

Students at Artondale Elementary on Nov. 22, 2021, wear masks in compliance with the state’s school mask mandate. The state’s indoor mask mandate will expire March 12, 2022, including in schools. Christina T Henry

Group accuses state of overreach

A cover letter submitted with the request urges the school board to take back local authority and accuses state officials and agencies of over-reaching. District officials, including the school board, have repeatedly said the authority to make decisions about mask and vaccine mandates is not in their hands.

The records request is complex and will require lengthy research by districts’ public records officers to determine whether some of the documents listed even meet the definition of responsive records, according to the Washington State School Directors’ Association (WSSDA).

Peninsula School District has acknowledged the group’s request, as required by law, but it is still calculating how long it will take to produce the documents.

“At this time, we are not able to provide an estimate,” said Sara Hoover, public records officer.

The district is consulting an attorney on fulfilling the request, which is not routine but not unheard of.

“Occasionally we seek advice or review from counsel or our insurance provider, depending on the complexity of the request,” Hoover said. “Currently, we are still working through interpreting the request.”

Students and some parents protested against the state’s school mask mandate Wednesday at Peninsula High School. Christina T Henry / Gig Harbor Now

What does the group want?

The request includes two parts, one with 25 items and one with 36 items. Most of the items are related to masking and COVID-19 vaccination, but some are related to school funding.

The cover letter, signed by Christin Flynn of Gig Harbor, begins with a statement of gratitude to the school board and goes on to say that the request is part of a statewide movement.

“Many districts throughout the state, including Seattle School District and several more throughout King County, will be, or already have been served the same documents over the next 30 days by thousands of parents statewide who have come together as a unified voice,” the letter states.

The letter, read into the record by three other group members, accuses state agencies, including WSSDA and the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, of usurping local school boards’ decision-making power, disenfranchising parents.

The letter slams state schools Superintendent Chris Reykdal’s 2021 emergency rule, which declared that funding could be withheld from districts that refused to comply with mandates on masking in schools and vaccination for school staff.

The group supports proposed legislation that would allow local school boards to withdraw from WSSDA, a move they said would “send a clear message to WSSDA that we erroneously let power become too centralized.”

Flynn did not respond to an email request for additional comment. Gig Harbor Now was unable to reach other members of the group for a response.

Who is Luis Ewing?

The records request begins by calling for documents outlining all sources of federal, state and private funding to Peninsula schools. No school year is specified, creating a potential quagmire for the district, which legally must comply by releasing any and all “responsive” records.

Other items related to masking and vaccines call for documentation of mandates issued by any of a host of state officials and agencies such as Gov. Jay Inslee, the Department of Health, OSPI, WSSDA, the state’s Department of Labor & Industries and more.

The 34-page request cites at length sections of the state’s public records law, as well as federal laws and cases related to the federal Freedom of Information Act.

The request to Peninsula schools is signed by Flynn but states it was prepared by Luis Ewing of Moclips. Ewing describes himself online as a self-trained attorney and paralegal who helps people representing themselves in legal matters.

On LinkedIn, he states, “I make my living undercutting attorneys and specializing in helping pro se litigants.”

In a conversation on his Facebook page, Ewing states he has never attended law school, obtained a law degree or joined the Washington State Bar Association. He views those credentials as “the equivalent of the ‘The Wizard of Oz Certificate of Brains.’” Ewing said he has been federally recognized to practice under “common law.”

Submitting a records request does not require a law degree. Any individual may do so.

Ewing is affiliated with the Washington Parents Alliance, a grassroots group opposed to mask and vaccine mandates. Ewing has authored several “resource” documents on the group’s website advising people of their rights when not wearing masks in public places, and on seeking exemptions from vaccine requirements.

Whether the Washington Parents Alliance is connected to the recent records requests is unknown. The group did not respond to an online inquiry from Gig Harbor Now before deadline.

Ewing did not respond to a request for comment on the public records request.

Districts receive alert on PRR

WSSDA on Feb. 2 issued an alert to all school districts in the state regarding the records request and how to fulfill it. The alert was provided as a “courtesy” only and districts were advised to consult their own legal counsel.

Tim Garchow, WSSDA’s executive director, said his organization issued the alert after hearing from a number of districts that received similar requests and were unsure how to respond. Some items did not seem to be records the districts possessed.

“These requests are largely aimed at mask requirements and vaccine information, but also seek documents about funding and include some unusual requests that don’t appear to seek ‘identifiable records,’” the alert states.

On the open-ended request for districts’ financial records, WSSDA recommends districts seek clarification about whether the parties that submitted the request mean records for the current school year. The caveat included is that each district should consult its own legal counsel.

The parents’ group records request is not a lawsuit, yet its wording challenges districts to provide copies of state laws that would (hypothetically) override a litany of state and federal laws citied in the request.

Districts are not required by public records law to create documents. The question then for district attorneys is whether these are requests for “identifiable records” in the districts’ possession.

WSSDA doesn’t think so.

“Rather, through these requests, the requestors appear to seek to require the district to conduct legal analysis regarding court admissibility of documents, and then produce documents reflecting that hoped-for analysis,” WSSDA’s alert says.

In the courts, Inslee’s vaccine mandate for state employees and health care workers survived a legal challenge by hundreds of public employees. The U.S. Supreme Court in January blocked President Joe Biden’s rule requiring workers at large companies to be vaccinated or masked and tested weekly.

A child getting. vaccine in his shoulder

Peninsula School District will host COVID vaccination clinics at its middle schools and expects to offer shots to younger kids later. Photo courtesy of CDC on Unsplash

Some ‘confused’ on WSSDA’s role

Garchow said WSSDA occasionally issues alerts or advisories on topics that affect districts across the state, but that doesn’t amount to a directive.

WSSDA’s role is to advise and support districts, Garchow said. For example, on masking and vaccines in schools, WSSDA helped districts interpret mandates issued by Inslee and rules outlined by the Department of Health.

WSSDA takes no position on masking or vaccine mandates, Garchow said, but their outreach to local boards has been misinterpreted.

“Our position is that we support school districts in following the law, right?” Garchow said. “And so, as the laws and the rules changed, we would send emails out that would say something like, ‘Masking is not a local decision.’ And then we would include links to the RCWs and the governor’s proclamation and all the information they would need. That was getting confused by some out there in the community that WSSDA was requiring masks for schools.”

Local districts are required under state statute to join WSSDA and to pay dues.

However, Garchow disputed the parent group’s position that WSSDA holds authority over local school board decisions. WSSDA’s governing board is made up of locally elected school board members from districts representing regions throughout the state. WSSDA board members are chosen by their peers who in turn represent their local electorates, Garchow says.

WSSDA condemned a statement this fall from leadership of the National School Boards Association that compared constituents’ protests before school boards to “domestic terrorism.” The former NSBA director stepped down and the national organization issued an apology amid the PR disaster, which is mentioned in the parents’ group’s letter.

“We found out about it at the same time as everybody else,” Garchow said. “We did not agree with it. We issued a statement on civility, which said that it is important for parents and community members to bring their concerns to school boards, and it’s important for school boards to listen. It’s also important that all the adults do so in a way that sets an example for students in a civil light.”