In response to the Montgomery County School system’s refusal to allow parents to opt out of elementary school transgender reading programs, parents requested copies of the public records of correspondence about the district’s banning the parental opt-out provision. The school system stated it would take over 50 working days to do so at a cost to the requestor of $18,290.26. This charge is for the labor associated with the request (labor already paid for by tax dollars).

This is the power of the school systems: state that transparency is critical, that the documents are available to the public for review, and that the school systems support parents, but then make it impossible for the community to obtain the information for them to really know what’s going on. This has been the same issue in FCPS, where it can cost hundreds of dollars to obtain documents that already exist on things like curriculums and training. Parents have to start realizing how little power they have and will have until they start speaking up.

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