Grand Prairie man requested public records -- and got $406,386 bill from school district

[TexasTowelie]

The request is overly vague and would take employees more than 22,000 hours to fulfill, Grand Prairie ISD says


Malcom Chakery is no stranger to Grand Prairie politics.

Chakery is editor of the online Grand Prairie News and founder of a 26,000-member Facebook page dedicated to all things Grand Prairie.

He is also a frequent critic of the school board for Grand Prairie ISD, where his two children attend school.

So when Chakery received an anonymous tip about a discrimination complaint involving a district employee, he shot off a public information request.

The school district’s reply? The records would cost Chakery $406,386.

“Receiving that cost estimate wasn’t all that shocking. Disappointing, yes, but in past dealings with Grand Prairie ISD, I have come to expect curveballs,” Chakery told The Dallas Morning News.

Read more: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/2022/06/30/grand-prairie-man-requested-public-records-and-got-406386-bill-from-school-district/

[wyn borkins]

1. Respond-O-Matic

Present Mr. Malcom Chakery with a window-less basement room in an un-airconditioned and older office area equipped with a Windows XP computer and a smallish tube-type monitor connected to a relational database hooked to a relatively slow Grand Prairie ISD server. Now allow Mr. Chakery to view all the related files he can open with no ability to print nor to create PDF images...Malcom can get busy searchin' OR get busy bookfacin'...

[TexasTowelie]

2. I used to provide data for public information requests during my career.

Mr. Chakery was provided two opportunities to limit the scope of his request so that the amount being charged is reduced.

At the end of the article Mr. Chakery comments that government entities already have the costs of responding to information requests built within their budgets. While that may be true for obtaining a database that is already available, there is no provision in the budgets to handle this type of request which requires examination of each document to determine whether it meets the criteria of his request. The 22,000 hours necessary to complete this request is equal to 11 FTEs who most likely earn around $50,000 per year. The estimated bill from Grand Prairie ISD is probably on the low side since it does not include any charges for the medium chosen to respond (paper or electronically), providing it in a format that is searchable by computer (e.g., PDF files are usually not searchable), or receiving clearance from ISD attorneys as to whether any of the material is considered confidential.

It's apparent that an entity could receive numerous public information requests to the point that it would essentially bog down staff so they could not respond to the routine needs of that entity. While I believe in government transparency, the taxpayers should not be responsible for paying what can be nuisance requests or retaining staff who may or may not receive public information requests.

[wyn borkins]

3. I Very Much Appreciate Your Kind Response

And I know you realize my (intentionally) silly comment was nothing more than sarcasm...

[TexasTowelie]

4. I handle sarcasm pretty well

and in a number of ways I agree with your comments. Even if all the information is made available, it also requires a certain set of skills by the requester to gain anything meaningful from the data. What is even worse though is that media may incorrectly interpret the information provided in the request which then places the onus back on the provider to comment on or refute those allegations.

If Mr. Chakary wants to pursue this request, then he should think about having summarized information prepared rather than requesting all records. If he wants to drill down further, then a subsequent request can be sent for specific cases.

[wyn borkins]

5. Understood - And Thanks Again (n/t)

[Hekate]

6. You speak with the voice of experience. Thanks for laying it all out so clearly