Virginia’s largest school system may also be its most secretive. Leaders at the Fairfax County School system have a history of redacting information from financial disclosure forms of School Board members. A new opinion from the Virginia attorney general says they should hand over the information.
This is not classified information about military strategy or state secrets. The information leaders in Fairfax County want to keep secret about School Board members includes the names of family members and other information they are legally required to disclose.
“Well I was kind of disappointed, disturbed and upset when I saw that information had been redacted."
That’s state Senator Scott Surovell of Fairfax County, who asked the attorney general’s office for an opinion.
“Who your spouse is and who they work for is an important fact because it could affect your judgement on voting for certain things because it could potentially affect your family pocketbook and so it’s important for the public to know who that person is and what they do for a living for example."
Virginia Press Association president Ginger Stanley says she’s never heard of disclosure forms being redacted.
“They are to disclose. And to redact any of it would sort of negate the reason for these forms in the first place."
Through a spokesman, Fairfax County school officials declined to answer questions about their redaction policy or react to the attorney general’s opinion.
