Judge to rule soon on release of Norfolk school data

NORFOLK

Lawyers have sifted through 12,000 documents and listened to hours of recorded interviews to determine what, if anything, should be made public from an investigation into testing irregularities at a public middle school.

On Tuesday, lawyers for the school division and The Virginian-Pilot argued over the release of materials used in the investigation of Lafayette-Winona Middle School during the 2008- 09 school year.

The newspaper sued the Norfolk School Board in April after the school system refused to hand over its findings under the Freedom of Information Act. Deputy City Attorney Wayne Ringer, representing the Norfolk division, argued in court that the materials are exempt and could damage privacy rights of school employees and students if they are made public.

Stan Barnhill, the newspaper's lawyer, told the court that only about 1,000 documents collected by the division are relevant to the paper's freedom of information request and should be made public.

Circuit Judge Norman A. Thomas said he expects to issue a decision before the end of the year. H e noted several times in the three-hour hearing that he expects any decision to be appealed to the Supreme Court.

The newspaper requested materials from the investigation into standardized testing at Lafayette-Winona Middle School, where state officials found mandatory testing rules for special education students were violated.

The School Board refused to release them, claiming a 73-page final report and other investigative materials were exempt from the state's sunshine laws.

The paper obtained a copy of the report and an eight-page executive summary given to city leaders from a source close to the School Board. The report detailed numerous problems with standardized testing.

Ringer said the newspaper obtained the report through "unauthorized means" and may have stolen it. "It might be a leak, it might be larceny," Ringer told the judge.

After the hearing, Ringer said in an interview that there was no evidence before the court to show the document was stolen or how the newspaper had obtained a copy. He said he had not contacted the commonwealth's attorney about a criminal investigation.

Denis Finley, the newspaper's editor, said the documents belong to the citizens of Norfolk. "We are authorized by law to obtain them and duty-bound to write about them," he said.

"Obviously, Judge Thomas is doing everything he can to make the correct decision here," Finley said.

The documents have been reviewed by the judge and Barnhill. Thomas barred Barnhill from sharing information about the documents with the newspaper.

Louis Hansen, (757) 446-2341, louis.hansen@pilotonline.com