AccessRI, a nonprofit freedom-of-information coalition, filed complaints with the R.I. Attorney General’s office Wednesday against 14 state and federal agencies, including the East Greenwich School Department, accusing them of violating the Access to Public Records Act.

There were four complaints against the EGSD:

1. The school department did not have any staff member designated to handle records requests on file with the R.I. Attorney General.
2. EGSD’s response to a request for written procedures for how to go about requesting public records took 41 days, a day longer than the law allows.
3. EGSD failed to have written procedures for how to request public records as well as request forms readily available on its website.
4. EGSD did not respond to an AccessRI request for “a full list of the teachers who have received layoff letters for the 2014-2015 school year, as well as the full list of teachers’ names submitted to the Rhode Island Department of Education for possible layoff for the 2014-2015 school year.”

According to Supt. Victor Mercurio, the issues mentioned in the complaints were resolved “several months ago.”

There is in fact a page on the district website now titled “Public Records Request Form” – here’s the link: http://egsd.net/parents.cfm?subpage=1288137.

“We have complied with the requirements for designated parties and access process and have worked with district counsel to comply with any request. Should we need to do anything further, we will do so promptly and in accordance with requirement,” Mercurio said via email Friday.