Quad Cities media sues over being kept out of school safety meeting

The Quad-City Times and three other local news companies has joined the Iowa Freedom of Information Council in a lawsuit against the Bettendorf Community School District and its board of directors.

The suit alleges the district prevented journalists from covering a recent meeting at which parents expressed concern about violence in the district’s middle school.

A 46-year-old nonprofit advocacy organization, the Iowa Freedom of Information Council is joined by the Times and television stations KWQC, WQAD and WHBF questioning the legality of a meeting on May 25 attended by 200 to 300 parents, along with a majority of the members of the school board and Superintendent Michelle Morse. School employees were stationed at the doors of the Waterfront Center to keep reporters and photographers out.

"Literally blocking journalists from a public meeting is unacceptable," said Matt Christensen, editor of the Times. "School board members were listening to public feedback meant to guide policy. On an issue as important as school safety, the public deserves to know."

A news release from the Iowa Freedom of Information Council pointed out the " … gathering was held one day after the massacre at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, killing 21 students and teachers."

"The meeting in Bettendorf followed mounting complaints from parents during the recently completed academic year about the lack of adequate response by school officials to rowdy behavior that left some students and their parents fearful," the council’s news release said.

The lawsuit asks the Scott County District Court to find the school district in violation of Iowa’s open meetings law and to issue an injunction prohibiting the school board from violating the statute in the future. The lawsuit also asks the court to fine members of the board who took part in the meeting.

The news release said a letter sent to Superintendent Morse and school board president Rebecca Eastman a week after the May 25 meeting, the Iowa FOI Council and managers of the news companies expressed "profound disappointment" with Bettendorf officials’ decision to keep journalists from covering the meeting.

"The topic discussed on the evening of Wednesday, May 25, was one of the fundamental responsibilities of the Bettendorf Community School District — ensuring the safety and well-being of the district’s 4,700 students during each school day," the letter said.

The letter also said that a meeting between parents and district officials " … about the behavior of some Bettendorf Middle School students — including bullying and injuries suffered by students not otherwise involved in the incidents — does not fall within the meaning of deliberations on matters clearly within the scope of the Board of Education’s policy-making duties."

Randy Evans, the executive director of the Iowa FOI Council, said the authors of Iowa’s open meetings law recognized the important work journalists do in informing the public about the issues and problems government faces and the potential solutions.