Bill Would Close Much Abused Loophole When It Comes To Releasing The Names Of Finalists For Superintendent Positions
By Vince Leibowitz on Jan 22, 2009 in 81st Texas Legislature ![[Post to Twitter]](/wp-content/plugins/tweet-this/icons/tt-twitter.png){kind=icon}
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A bill proposed by State Sen. Kevin Eltife (R-Tyler) would close a loophole in the Texas Public Information Act which is frequently exploited by school districts during the superintendent selection process.
If passed, SB 503 would designate that any candidate for an open superintendent’s position who was interviewed for the position by a school district is considered a “finalist” for the post.
Under the current language of the Texas Public Information Act, the board of trustees of a Texas school district is only required to disclose the, “name or names of the finalists being considered for the position at least 21 days before the date of the meeting at which a final action or vote is to be taken on the employment of the person.”
Almost every school district in the state that has selected a new superintendent since the adoption of the “finalist” exception to the Public Information Act in the mid-1990s has used the exception as a shield to hide from public view the names of the de facto finalists for such positions by merely publicly designating only one “finalist” no matter how many finalists were actually interviewed. This is thanks to the “name or names” clause.
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[...] Vince at Capitol Annex says that Sen. Kevin Eltife wants to close the loophole that lets school systems publicly identify only one person in the running for a school superintendent’s job. His bill would stipulate that anybody who gets interviewed for the job would be considered a finalist and would have to be identified. [...]