{"id":2921,"date":"2023-05-17T15:20:49","date_gmt":"2023-05-17T15:20:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/?p=2921"},"modified":"2023-05-17T16:07:01","modified_gmt":"2023-05-17T16:07:01","slug":"in-case-you-missed-it-sun-prairie-schools-charging-11000-for-records-surrounding-locker-room-incident","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/?p=2921","title":{"rendered":"In Case You Missed It: Sun Prairie Schools Charging $11,000 For Records Surrounding Locker Room Incident"},"content":{"rendered":"

This post originally appeared at https:\/\/will-law.org\/in-case-you-missed-it-sun-prairie-schools-charging-11000-for-records-surrounding-locker-room-incident\/<\/a><\/p>\n

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The News:<\/strong> Following the \u201cLocker Room Incident,\u201d in which an adult biological male showered naked with four freshman girls, the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty (WILL) sought answers and filed a public records request<\/a> for the school\u2019s locker room policy and other related documents.\u00a0But now, the district is demanding $11,000 from WILL before it releases any records.<\/div>\n
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While schools may charge some small fees known as \u201clocation costs\u201d (and many schools waive these fees), the district is illegally charging exorbitant fees as a way to hide public records.<\/div>\n
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The Quote:<\/strong> WILL Deputy Counsel, Dan Lennington, stated, \u201cThe law demands more, and the district\u2019s embrace of secrecy is an embarrassment. Students, parents, and taxpayers deserve transparency and accountability.\u201d<\/div>\n
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The Article: <\/strong>Fox News Online<\/a> covered the latest developments in their story below:<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Fox News: Legal group charged $11K for FOIA, investigating trans woman allegedly entering high school girls locker room\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n
By: Joshua Q. Nelson<\/em><\/div>\n
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A Wisconsin school district charged a legal group over $11K to fulfill their open records request regarding an incident that involved a transgender woman allegedly violating the privacy rights of four other female students.\u00a0<\/em><\/div>\n
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The Wisconsin Institute of Law and Liberty (WILL) on April 19, 2023, wrote a letter to the Sun Prairie Area School District [SPASD] claiming that they have not \u201cadequately\u201d addressed a violation of students\u2019 privacy rights after a transgender woman walked into a shower with four high school freshmen girls inside of it. Additionally, the letter consisted of an open records request.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/div>\n
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According to the letter, titled \u201cSerious Violation of Girls\u2019 Privacy Rights in Sun Prairie East Locker Room,\u201d four Sun Prairie East High School freshmen girls were disturbed when an alleged \u201cundressed\u201d 18-year-old transgender woman came into the locker room and got into the showers with the girls.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/div>\n
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A transgender student said, \u201cI want my high school experience to be just like everyone else\u2019s, like getting my license, taking biology class, and figuring my life out, not fighting for it.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/div>\n
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WILL attorneys\u2019 letter claims that on March 3, four freshmen girls at EHS participated in a swim unit as part of their first-hour physical education class.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/div>\n
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Fox News Digital obtained an email from the EHS principal that acknowledged an incident occurred and said the situation should have never happened.\u00a0<\/em><\/div>\n
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A letter sent by a law group claimed that the Wisconsin-based Sun Prairie Area School District has not \u201cadequately\u201d addressed a violation of students\u2019 privacy rights after a transgender woman walked into a shower with four high school freshmen girls inside of it.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/div>\n
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SPASD told Fox News Digital that the letter \u201cprovides neither an accurate nor complete account of the events that occurred\u201d and that \u201cthe incident that is the subject of WILL\u2019s letter is a confidential, pupil matter, and the District is prohibited by law including the Wisconsin pupil records statute, Wis. Stat. 118.125, from disclosing any information about specific pupils in the District.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/div>\n
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The letter urged a response by the SPASD to resolve the issue and claims its actions have \u201cbeen completely inadequate.\u201d In order to investigate whether SPASD officials had addressed the incident that occurred on March 3, WILL requested a copy of communication exchange materials between officials which include board members, meeting invitations, records pertaining to the school district\u2019s restroom and locker room guidance, and a copy of SPASD\u2019s organizational chart or other documents reflecting the name and title of SPASD\u2019s Title IX coordinator.\u00a0<\/em><\/div>\n
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In response to WILL\u2019s letter, the SPASD\u2019s general counsel on May 10th told WILL that the records request will be fulfilled at a price that exceeds $11,000.\u00a0<\/em><\/div>\n
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SPASD is charging WILL over $900 for district officials to start gathering the requested documents. A $934 charge that is the hourly rate of the district officials as well as the estimated amount of time it will take to locate records responsive to their request.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/div>\n
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Additionally, SPASD noted that district officials will have to employ IT staff, which would cost well over $5K. It would cost WILL another $5K for EHS staff to search for any \u201cresponsive documents.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/div>\n
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\u201cThis is an overly broad request, but we are willing to have this search conducted. We estimate, however, that the location costs of performing this search will exceed $5,000.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/div>\n
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SPASD\u2019s general counsel did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital\u2019s request for comment.\u00a0<\/em><\/div>\n
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Learn More:\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/div>\n