A lawsuit that Attorney General Eric Schmitt filed against the Moberly Public School District came as a surprise, according to the superintendent.
“The Moberly School District became aware through a release from the Attorney General’s Office,” said Moberly School District # 81 Superintendent of Schools Dustin Fanning.
Schmitt sued Moberly Public School District for allegedly violating the state’s Sunshine Law after failing to comply with a request for public records related to their policy on parents recording Individualized Education Plan (IEP) meetings.
“The Moberly Public School District’s policy that places roadblocks in parents’ ability to record these IEP meetings is outrageous, and their refusal to produce public records relating to that policy is even more absurd,” Schmitt said in a statement online. “I will not stand idly by while Moberly Public Schools stonewalls parents from having a say in their child’s education, and that’s why we filed suit.”
However, Fanning told the St. Louis Record that the district is confident that its conduct has met the requirements of the Sunshine Law, which requires that meetings, records, votes, actions, and deliberations of public governmental bodies be open to the public unless otherwise provided by law.
“The District is disappointed that the resources of the State of Missouri, and the patrons of the Moberly School District are being diverted away from the education of its students and expended in the defense of litigation of this nature,” Fanning said. “The Attorney General’s press release speaks to the District’s willingness to engage in open dialogue about this matter, yet no response to the District’s invitation to engage in a collaborative process was received from the Attorney General’s Office.”
The complaint alleges that Moberly Public School District expected payment of $2,145.60 before it would fulfill the AG's information request.
“Parents have a right to know exactly what is being taught to the children, and should have a say in how their children are being taught, especially parents with children with disabilities,” Schmitt said. “As the father of a child with disabilities, I know first-hand how valuable an effective Individualized Education Plan can be, and how crucial it is for parents to have a say in how that plan is formulated and implemented.”
The complaint, filed in the Circuit Court of Randolph County on Nov. 23, is similar to a lawsuit Schmitt filed against Springfield Public Schools in Greene County Circuit Court on Nov. 16 alleging violations of the Sunshine Law regarding Critical Race Theory.
“The Moberly District is certainly aware of other similar litigation and a trend developing across the State, having observed the other lawsuits filed by the AG’s Office in the State against quality school systems,” Fanning added. “The Moberly School District will continue to focus its time and energy on providing a quality education to all of its students and will not abandon its educational commitment to all of its students.”