Publicizing salaries raises concerns

Alexis Barker
NLJ News Editor
 
Weston County School District No. 1 echoed the same concerns expressed by the Wyoming Democratic Party regarding the upcoming release of school district employee’s salaries, positions and names after a request was made by Republican Sen. Tom James (Sweetwater) to the Wyoming Department of Education for the information. 
On Dec. 11. during its regularly scheduled board meeting, the board of trustees approved a letter drafted by Trustee Dana Mann-Tavegia, to be signed by Superintendent Brad LaCroix and sent to James and all other state legislators. 
The letter states that the district is happy for any Wyoming citizen to have salary and position data about the staff but that the district was concerned about releasing the names associated with the salary and position data. 
“We do not understand the need for the names of our staff to be released in association with this data, or what value it could add to your work,” the letter reads. “Our concerns include the safety of individual staff members, their family members and neighbors, as well as the safety of the schools in which they work. We have had staff whose safety could be put in jeopardy with this kind of information release. While we are unaware of the manner in which you will use, and possibly publish, their names, we are quite concerned about staff confidentiality and possible endangerment.” 
The letter says that the district hopes the senator will find the salary and position data to be sufficient without using names. 
Before the drafting of the letter, Jackie Grimes, a candidate for the state Senate in Dist. 10 spoke out in a press release against the request stating that it “feels like a continuation of a series of maneuvers and strategic planning by Republicans to discredit and defund public education. The Senate has continuously worked to cut education funding, to the point of commissioning a study to examine public education spending and look for efficiencies, but the report, by and large, recommended additional spending.”
She continued that all staff positions and salaries corresponding to those positions are publicly posted and available to any Wyoming resident. 
“There is no need to request and release staff names associated with salaries,” she said. “Because of the insistence on names, this request feels very personal and a violation to educators.” 
Superintendent of Public Instruction Jillian Balow stated in a memo to Wyoming school district superintendents that the Wyoming Department of Education would be releasing the information to James because the department is beholden to produce the information and that the department has no way of knowing if the information will cause any safety concerns. 
“Simply, we do not know if we have cause to deny access because the employees are school district, not WDE, employees,” the memo says.  
The memo also says that as a “prudent steward of information about Wyoming education, as well as an elected official, I believe that informed citizens are vital to the functioning of a democratic society. Thus, I support Senator James’s request for information related to salaries and positions, but I do not endorse releasing district employee names at the state level.” 
Balow also wrote that someone seeking this information should pursue the request at the district level and not through the Department of Education. 
Superintendent Brad LaCroix told the school board that the way the “danger/security” issue was explained to him was that those in potential potentially from release of their names would already have had law enforcement help to secure their identity. 
“You are probably right about some of those things, but I feel, what possible reason is there for needing their names,” board Chairman Tina Chick said. 
LaCroix said that he believes the senator should be asked that question because other districts also have concerns. 
“I can’t understand the difference in the data they already have. I do know a lot of times with watchdog groups, they don’t actually want to go through the data. They just want the fight when we say they can’t have it,” LaCroix said. “They just want to make sure they are not being denied their legal rights.” 
Mann-Tavegia noted that her understanding is that this information is not only being requested from the Wyoming Department of Education but for every public employee within the state. 
LaCroix also suggested that the district inform all its employees that the Wyoming Department of Education was going to be releasing this information as early as Dec. 23, with the latest possible release date for the information being Dec. 27.