51 Million Reasons Why Kouns Should Release Email
Featured Stories, News December 15, 2014 , by Brian K. PritchardOn December 2, 2014, FYN, through a standard Open Records Request, asked for all email sent and received by Superintendent of Schools, Jason Kouns, from 1-1-14 through 12-2-14. At this time not a single email has been provided.
I first want to address the
“what’s the point crowd.”
Some people are wondering why we have requested this email. FYN has been asked
“what do you think you will find?”
It may not be exactly what we will find but more likely what information will be provided concerning serious issues and potential breaches we have already uncovered. All email generated on and sent to County employees on the County computers and through the County servers is subject to public view at anytime. This email is subject to the Georgia Open Records laws and the Georgia Sunshine Laws. It’s PUBLIC email and belongs to you, so what we are looking for should not be relevant. The alarming fact is they can’t or won’t produce the email when asked.
Email is subject to the Georgia Open Records Act, specifically O.C.G.A. § 50-18-70 – Title 50, Chapter 18, Article 4, which states:
“All public records of an agency as defined in subsection (a) of this Code section, except those which by order of a court of this state or by law are prohibited or specifically exempted from being open to inspection by the general public, shall be open for a personal inspection by any citizen of this state at a reasonable time and place; and those in charge of such records shall not refuse this privilege to any citizen.”
Below is part of the first response FYN received from Gilmer County Charter School System attorney Herman Clark,
“The Gilmer County School System (“System”) utilizes Google’s free webmail service, Gmail, for its employees’ email accounts. No emails are stored on individual employees’ computers, nor are emails sent and received retained in the System’s normal course of business, or archived by the System. Based upon our research , Google can only retrieve deleted emails for a maximum of thirty days, and realistically likely only twenty five days or so. We are informed that beyond that, no emails exist on Google’s server and therefore cannot be retrieved.”
This statement is alarming on several levels. First, they delete email? Really? What about the sunshine law? Are they telling us that if Kouns sent Board Chairman James Waters an email over a month ago it could be gone? Email that is sent between any board member and Superintendent Kouns is open for public view. The sunshine law allows the superintendent to communicate with the board members via email and, therefore, that email is subject to public view at any time.
The second response FYN received from County Attorney Clark was that Google was able to retrieve 9,159 emails in Kouns’ inbox but Google could only retrieve 30 days of email that Kouns sent. So we are left to believe that the largest, most powerful search engine in the world, Google, can only find email in one direction but not the other?
The BOE is now requiring a $500 down payment so that they could start reviewing the email to see if any personal information might need to be redacted. After the GCCSS reviews the email and makes any changes, they would then be sent to Clark & Clark for legal review to be sure the email could be released. This open records request could cost several thousands of dollars. If the BOE is allowed to impose these kinds of unreasonable costs to an Open Records Request this would be a deterrent to any citizen requesting public information they are legally entitled to. If allowed to proceed in this manner it would literally end all future requests by small businesses or individual citizens letting public entities feel freer to possibly circumvent the law without scrutiny. Furthermore, why would we pay any amount up front when they still haven’t filled any portion of the request?
Where are Kouns’ sent emails? It is not just important that FYN receive them, it’s the law!
GCCSS says they use Google for their email provider so FYN did some research. Google has a program called Google For Schools. Google provides email and other services to over 10,000 school systems. Google shows schools how to archive email. They train schools how to color tab email so that it can be easily filed by subject and then accessed.
Some people have expressed concern that in the FYN open records request that their child’s personal information would be released. State law prevents your child’s information from being released. If the GCCSS is using the Google School email system properly email with children’s personal information would be color coded so it wouldn’t be released to the public. If the GCCSS was using the Google Schools email system properly FYN’s open records request could have been filled in a couple of hours with no student confidential information released. The open records request would not cost any money to review OR produce. A simple thumb drive could be inserted and the appropriate folders copied. So we are supposed to believe that Mr. Kouns’ doesn’t have a folder marked
“BOE emails,”
or folders set up for ELOST, Clear Creek construction, SACs, etc etc. We are supposed to believe he has one
“inbox”
and one
“sent”
folder? Remember one of Mr. Kouns’ skills making him a candidate for superintendent was his advanced technological knowledge to lead us into the future. Most of us have quick retrieval email folders and Google School has a similar program. Setting up file folders is about as basic as it gets.
FYN became interested in Mr. Kouns’ emails after we received an email that Kouns sent to the Board members and everyone in the entire GCCSS that engaged the Tea Party of Gilmer County.
Click here to view Kouns email
In the email what most interested FYN was Kouns’ challenge to teachers,
“So…My question to you would be; What are you doing as an Educator, and a member of the Gilmer County Charter School System, to convey the accurate facts to this community, and those that support our schools? Are you sharing a consistent message? Is it pervasive and filled with truths? Is it one that speaks to the importance of what you do each day? Is it one that focuses on children and not criticism? Are you part of the solution?
OR…Are you content in sitting idly by, and allowing others to speak for you?”
FYN sent Kouns the following questions concerning the email,
“I have watched the video, I don’t see where Ms. DePlancke identified herself as speaking on behalf of the Tea Party so why in your email did you feel it necessary to say the Tea Party enabled her to speak on their behalf?”
Kouns responded:
“I believed she noted the Tea Party in her commentary. She too met with a contingency of Tea Party Members prior to, and after the meeting. My assumption was based on her association with these individuals.”
Kouns said he believed she referenced the Tea Party and that his assumption was based on her association with these individuals. The video of Joene DePlancke’s comment shows that her comments only referred to the fact that the GCCSS had not properly posted the meeting agenda for the public to see and that she did not know how they could vote on something that had not been legally advertised to the public. She never referred to the Tea Party nor did she say she represented the Tea Party. Kouns sent out approximately 575 emails with an assumption based on association with individuals. This is a very concerning personal evaluation and attack of DePlancke in 575 emails.
FYN,
Why did you send the email? What did you feel you would accomplish by sending it? What has the response been concerning the email from teachers or anyone that received the email?
Kouns,
I send emails to my faculty/staff all the time to challenge them to always be better. To learn new things, to share new information, to build new capacity, to gain greater clarity. My email was a call for action in representing themselves.
FYN,
Have you mentioned the Tea Party or discussed the email in any of your faculty meetings?
Kouns,
I have mentioned commentary noted by specific individuals, groups, and/or committees, in conversations I have all over the county.
If you look at Kouns answer closely this may not be the first time that Kouns has sent an email that has different groups or maybe political groups discussed in them. Why can’t we just look at Kouns’ email to see? What other individuals is he discussing based on assumptions regarding who they may associate with? Also, is that part of the job description of the superintendent of schools, to suggest to teachers and administrators how to think, feel, vote? Is a superintendent supposed to suggest which organizations teachers should support or denounce?
What about emails sent to Gary Hyde? Open record. What about emails sent to Bryan Dorsey? Open records? What about emails sent to Adam Hathaway? Open records? What about emails sent to James Parmer? Open records? …………………………………………………….Open Records!
FYN has not received anything concrete from Kouns showing any serious interest or concern to provide the emails. He has returned several emails saying GCCSS is working on FYN’s request but has also made several references that our request is sensationalizing, commentary and ridiculous. Kouns’ seems not to be very concerned with his need to provide the open records. Open Records Requests are supposed to be filled within 72 hours, if possible. That would have been December 5th. Coping all folders not containing personal student information would have only required 30 minutes at best to copy to a thumb drive.
Clark has asked FYN to narrow the search and be more specific on the email we are requesting. FYN plans to send a revised open records request today with more detail for the GCCSS.
FYN recently sent the entire chain of communications concerning the failure to comply with an Open Records Request to the Georgia Attorney General’s office. We spoke to them Friday and asked if they would mediate our Open Records Request. They are reviewing everything now and we hope to hear back from them this week.
GCCSS receives 74% of the county’s property tax revenue. When you total what they receive from property tax, ELOST, state and federal contributions it comes to around $51 million a year. In a system that spent over $700,000 for a technology and administration building and pays the superintendent $120,000 a year plus a $500 a month car allowance it’s hard to accept the fact that they have a problem locating public records. FYN recalls one of the major reasons the previous board gave for purchasing the
“technology”
building was the fear of losing vital records and not having things properly backed up. I can think of 51 million reasons why the records should be open to the public AND easily retrievable. Kouns’ email is public record.