This week we have been working on a news story relating to an operational audit of the Osceola County School District conducted by the Florida auditor general for the fiscal year that ended June 30. The audit, sent to the district Nov. 1, listed a number of findings as well as recommendations and the School District was required to respond within 30 days, informing the state what corrective actions would be taken.

When we requested a copy of the audit response – which had been filed with the state and circulated to School Board members – we were told it was not public record, per the School Board attorney, because it was a “working document.”

Come on, School Board attorney. It is well known that drafts of official documents are public record, and distribution of those documents to elected officials is a major factor in making them so. All you have to do is read Florida’s Government-in-the-Sunshine statute.

The Florida Supreme Court, according to the Florida Attorney General’s manual on the Sunshine law, has said public records “encompass all materials made or received by an agency in connection with official business which are used to perpetuate, communicate or formalize knowledge. All such materials, regardless of whether they are in final form, are open for public inspection.”

The manual further states that “any agency document, however prepared, if circulated for review, comment or information, is a public record regardless of whether it is an official expression of policy or marked ‘preliminary’ or ‘working draft’ or similar label.”

It’s very clear to us that the School Board attorney is dragging her feet on this issue for whatever reason. While the audit findings were serious in nature, we would not consider them earth-shattering, so we wonder what the reason for the delay might be. Issues that needed corrective action related to personnel and payroll, student enrollment and access to information technology. Watch for a news story on the audit and the district’s response next week.

While on the School Board topic, we want to take this opportunity to congratulate Cindy Hartig, the new chair of the School Board, and Marjorie Guillen-Melendez, the vice chair, following their selection recently by their peers. We look forward to changes, including having the public comment period at the beginning of meetings being part of the official record. Previously, comments from the public were excluded, no matter the topic. We’re also happy to see that meetings will be streamed live on the Internet and that all regular meetings will start at 5:30 p.m.