A number of Middle Tennessee school districts haven’t complied with an open records request for content that concerns Islamic curriculum being taught in public schools.
But the American Center for Law & Justice says its records request of all 146 Tennessee school districts earlier this month is valid and that it “isn’t uncommon for a government entity to delay compliance.”
Metro Nashville, Rutherford, Williamson and Wilson counties are among districts that haven’t complied with the records request after receiving a sample letter from an attorney saying they don’t have to the way the request is presented.
Attorney Chuck Cagle of the Lewis Thomason law firm, which represents more than 70 school districts and picked up several more for the open records request, wrote the sample letter for school systems to send to the ACLJ if they desired. The ACLJ’s request can’t be honored the same way as it would be for a Tennessee resident, Cagle said.
The sample letter includes:
“Our client denies your request in full. Among many other defects in your demand, the Tennessee Open Records Act only requires that certain public records be made available for personal inspection by Tennessee citizens. See Tenn. Code Ann. § 10-7-503(a)(1)(B). A public records request made by an agent on behalf of a foreign business entity is invalid. Without waiving numerous other defects in your demand, your request is denied.”
The ACLJ, a nonprofit that advocates and litigates legal, legislative and cultural issues regarding freedom of religion and free speech, confirmed it has received the sample letter from some districts.
Cagle wasn’t aware of any districts that have complied with the records request.
The ACLJ also is corresponding with other districts with questions and will continue efforts to obtain the records requested, executive counsel CeCe Heil said.
“We deal with government entities regularly and anticipate the necessity of engaging in negotiations pertaining to the actual documentation received,” Heil said in an email.
“Our open records requests are valid and signed by an attorney who is a citizen of Tennessee,” Heil’s email says.
The ACLJ’s request includes all tests, quizzes, assignments, instructional materials, lesson plans, study guides, communication and correspondence involving world religion.
“I’ve never seen a records request that asked for this volume of information in 25 years of practicing law,” Cagle said.
The public records request as presented could cost the public school system hundreds of thousands of dollars to comply with, Cagle said. Copyright issues for materials requested and how far back records would be needed also could be issues with the request, Cagle said.
The time and depth Islam has been taught in schools has been scrutinized recently by Tennessee lawmakers and community members representing multiple districts. The ACLJ’s records request was initiated because of contact from concerned parents, Heil said.
The state’s curriculum standards are designed to provide an understanding of how world religions have affected world history, Tennessee Education Commissioner Candice McQueen has said.
The state did move up its social studies standards review to January. Standards were originally to be reviewed in 2018.