Post by title1parent on May 22, 2009 5:15:24 GMT -5
www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=295322&src=76
State court to District 200: Make ex-superintendent's contract public
By Christy Gutowski and Jake Griffin | Daily Herald 5/22/09
The Illinois Supreme Court unanimously ruled Thursday that Wheaton Warrenville Unit District 200 must make public a former superintendent's contract.
The 7-0 opinion comes at a time in Illinois when state lawmakers are trying to reverse the culture of secrecy that largely prevailed during former Gov. Rod Blagojevich's administration.
Mark Stern, of Wheaton, a one-time school board candidate, sought to review District 200 Superintendent Gary Catalani's contract through a Freedom of Information request filed Jan. 26, 2006.
Catalani now heads an Arizona school system.
Stern's attorney Shawn Collins said the high court decision was long overdue, and taxing bodies should be punished for not complying with similar valid requests.
"It's the best proof I know of that we need a new law," Collins said. "The school district should not have been able to do this and tie this up for three years and they should be punished for doing so, but the law doesn't provide for any punishment."
District 200 repeatedly denied Stern's request. It argued the contract was contained in the superintendent's personnel file and, thus, was exempt from disclosure.
Stern appealed, but a DuPage County judge ruled in District 200's favor. Afterward, the Second District Appellate Court in Elgin reversed the lower court's decision, and remanded the case back to DuPage County.
District 200 asked Illinois Supreme Court justices to intervene.
At issue is whether government agencies are entitled to keep some information and documents secret from the taxpayers who support them.
Illinois law does allow 45 different types of information to be exempt from public view, such as parts of personnel records, as was the issue in Wheaton.
The case was complicated further in that Catalani had supplied his contract to two newspapers, including the Daily Herald, which Stern argued was comparable to a waiver of any perceived exemption.
The Illinois Supreme Court ruled the media issue is moot because it found the entire contract, with limited exception, must be disclosed. Justices sent the matter back to a DuPage County judge to remove only Catalani's personal information, such as his social security and bank numbers, to protect his privacy.
"We hold that an employment contract is not the kind of record the General Assembly intended to keep from public view and does not fall within the exemption for personnel files," Chief Justice Thomas R. Fitzgerald wrote. "The superintendent's contract must be disclosed."
He added: "Thus, with the exception noted above for personal information, Catalani's employment contract must be disclosed in its entirety."
At the time Stern sought the contract, Catalani was the highest-paid school superintendent in Illinois, making a base salary of more than $306,000 a year.
School district officials released a terse statement at the end of the day, claiming they were "pleased" by the high court's decision and would "comply" with it.
While the school board didn't back Stern, he did have powerful supporters in the likes of Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, the Illinois Press Association and the Citizen Advocacy Center in Elmhurst, all of which filed legal documents urging the state high court to rule in his favor.
State court to District 200: Make ex-superintendent's contract public
By Christy Gutowski and Jake Griffin | Daily Herald 5/22/09
The Illinois Supreme Court unanimously ruled Thursday that Wheaton Warrenville Unit District 200 must make public a former superintendent's contract.
The 7-0 opinion comes at a time in Illinois when state lawmakers are trying to reverse the culture of secrecy that largely prevailed during former Gov. Rod Blagojevich's administration.
Mark Stern, of Wheaton, a one-time school board candidate, sought to review District 200 Superintendent Gary Catalani's contract through a Freedom of Information request filed Jan. 26, 2006.
Catalani now heads an Arizona school system.
Stern's attorney Shawn Collins said the high court decision was long overdue, and taxing bodies should be punished for not complying with similar valid requests.
"It's the best proof I know of that we need a new law," Collins said. "The school district should not have been able to do this and tie this up for three years and they should be punished for doing so, but the law doesn't provide for any punishment."
District 200 repeatedly denied Stern's request. It argued the contract was contained in the superintendent's personnel file and, thus, was exempt from disclosure.
Stern appealed, but a DuPage County judge ruled in District 200's favor. Afterward, the Second District Appellate Court in Elgin reversed the lower court's decision, and remanded the case back to DuPage County.
District 200 asked Illinois Supreme Court justices to intervene.
At issue is whether government agencies are entitled to keep some information and documents secret from the taxpayers who support them.
Illinois law does allow 45 different types of information to be exempt from public view, such as parts of personnel records, as was the issue in Wheaton.
The case was complicated further in that Catalani had supplied his contract to two newspapers, including the Daily Herald, which Stern argued was comparable to a waiver of any perceived exemption.
The Illinois Supreme Court ruled the media issue is moot because it found the entire contract, with limited exception, must be disclosed. Justices sent the matter back to a DuPage County judge to remove only Catalani's personal information, such as his social security and bank numbers, to protect his privacy.
"We hold that an employment contract is not the kind of record the General Assembly intended to keep from public view and does not fall within the exemption for personnel files," Chief Justice Thomas R. Fitzgerald wrote. "The superintendent's contract must be disclosed."
He added: "Thus, with the exception noted above for personal information, Catalani's employment contract must be disclosed in its entirety."
At the time Stern sought the contract, Catalani was the highest-paid school superintendent in Illinois, making a base salary of more than $306,000 a year.
School district officials released a terse statement at the end of the day, claiming they were "pleased" by the high court's decision and would "comply" with it.
While the school board didn't back Stern, he did have powerful supporters in the likes of Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, the Illinois Press Association and the Citizen Advocacy Center in Elmhurst, all of which filed legal documents urging the state high court to rule in his favor.