The Melody files suit to obtain dollar amount in undisclosed school board settlement

The Macon Melody is suing to obtain the Bibb County School District records related to a settlement the school board approved more than a year ago without disclosing the amount of taxpayer dollars it spent to avoid litigation. 

Off-camera, and at the tail end of a regular board meeting on July 18, 2024, the school board unanimously approved a “settlement for student _ _” (initials referencing an unidentified individual) without disclosing the amount of the settlement. 

In previous settlements, the school board has voluntarily disclosed the dollar amounts it approved. The Melody’s requests for the dollar amount of this settlement were met with denial letters citing student privacy laws as the reason why it refuses to make public the total cost to taxpayers. 

A dollar amount is not an educational record. The only reason The Melody knows the settlement relates to a student matter is because the district disclosed it on the agenda.

The Melody’s lawsuit alleges the school board violated the open records act and seeks to compel the school district to disclose the dollar amount of the settlement so that the public can evaluate the expenditure of public funds. 

The lawsuit comes after more than a year of back-and-forth between The Melody and the school district. In April, the school board was warned by the Georgia Attorney General that its citation of student privacy laws does not appear to support its non-release of records showing the financial impact of the settlement agreement.