Iowa Public Information Board Looks Over Complaint Launched Over Pekin School Board Public Information Request

PACKWOOD – On Sept. 19, the Iowa Public Information Board (IPIB) looked over a complaint launched against the Pekin Community School District by parents Jody Phillips, Erin Pedrick and Tracy Diehl. According to the complaint, the complainants submitted a public records request to the school on April 25 of this year, seeking information about the then recent scandal featuring the resignation of Superintendent Derek Philips.

The following pieces of information were requested:

1. For the time period August 1, 2023 to present (April 25, 2024) has JJ Greiner or Mike Davis sent any text message to any other board member conversing, threatening, indicating or otherwise stating how a board member should vote on any official school board business? 

2. For the time period August 1, 2023 to January 1, 2024 has Sherry Bemis or Mike Davis sent any text message to any other board member conversing, threatening, indicating or otherwise stating any displeasure with how that board member voted on an official school board business vote? 

3. Between March 11, 2024 and March 31, 2024 did any board member send a text message or screenshot photo to any other individual sharing information regarding Derek Philips' resignation letter and his call for a special board meeting?

4. Between March 24, 2024 and April 5, 2024 did any board member send a text message or screenshot photo to any other individual sharing a letter sent to the board members by a parent group - either sending the letter in whole or partial?

On May 2, the district replied, claiming they did not have any public records responsive to the request. Jody Phillips requested to be told the procedure used to determine there were no records. The district replied that they had consulted with the school attorney and asked board members to review their phones and determine if any records existed in response to the request.

Shortly thereafter, the parents filed the complaint. The Pekin attorney responded that the board did not have any records to provide and claimed that the board did not have to hand over phone records, saying “Simply put, neither the law itself nor any IPIB interpretation of the law requires a public agency to obtain private cell phone records in order to respond to a public records request.”

The IPIB disagreed with this, writing that “The PCSD response to the IPIB complaint is concerning...Iowa law has made it clear that public records exist on private devices. This was made clear even before the prevalent use of cell phones...It is clear precedent that a private device can contain public records. It is also clear precedent that the lawful custodian has an affirmative duty to produce any public records on a private device.”

The IPIB cited the case Linder v. Eckard, saying “It is the nature and purpose of the document, not the place where it is kept, which determines its status,” and Iowa Code 22.2, which states governmental body cannot prevent access to a public record by contracting with a nongovernmental body (such as a cloud storage provider).

The IPIB noted that the district did take some steps to secure the public records, with Superintendent Jeff Maeder sending an email to the board stating “Please see the request below. If there are any texts you might have saved on your phone that you have questions about, please let me know.” However, this email did not clearly state the texts must be provided or explain the duty to respond to the public records request, and only two board members responded.

During the Oct. 14 board meeting, the Pekin School Board agreed to an informal resolution stating Each member of the PCSD will use good faith efforts to review and retrieve all public records on personal devices responsive to the public records request. The attorney for PCSD will assist each board member in retrieval and review of the records.

The board members signed affidavits stating they had completed searches of their private devices for the requested records, had not deleted or altered the records, and provided any relevant records to the IPIB. Maeder explained that, according to the school attorney, the matter would be closed after the resolution and affidavits were signed. The board also held the first reading for a new addition to board policy, stating that district employees and board members are obligated to hand over files stored on personal devices as part of public records requests.