A look at how school systems share public information

But finding information on school websites about teacher and superintendent salaries, the amount spent per pupil, or the amounts of contracts with outside vendors can be a challenge.

The Maryland-Delaware-D.C. Press Association examined 29 public school system websites in the three jurisdictions. The press association looked for basic public information, such as email addresses and phone numbers, as well as more detailed data, such as school district budgets and copies of contracts.

MDDC found that most school systems make it easy to check in on school board meetings — all of them livestream their sessions. But in many systems, getting agenda packets the board would analyze at an upcoming meeting or figuring out ongoing expenditures for a school renovation proved more difficult.

Websites that anticipate and answer questions, such as from prospective parents or teachers, can help the public more easily find information about how the school system functions. An informative website can reduce the number of public records requests, saving time and money, because the information is already posted.

The information can be useful to families deciding where to live and enroll their children. It can help teachers decide where to apply for a position.

“Proactively, it helps parents. They see what schools they want to put their kids in,” said David Cuillier, a journalism professor who was recently named director of the Joseph L. Brechner Freedom of Information Project at the University of Florida.

Cuillier said studies show that when school systems post information about their performance records and other data, it can influence future performance, as well as the school systems that families choose. Parents, he said, “notice that and take action based on that.”

All U.S. states, territories and the District of Columbia have their own public records and public meetings laws that require certain levels of transparency across state and local governments, including public school systems. The laws have a lot in common.

But a family may not have time, money or expertise to use those laws to research a school system. They look for quick, readily available information — and the school system website is a likely stop in their search.

Getting information through a formal public records request can take weeks, depending on the focus of the request and the timetables allowed by law.

In Delaware, it can be more complicated. The state allows its agencies to reject requests from non-residents. (The decision by some states to provide public records only to residents, or, in some places, only to U.S. citizens living in that state, was unanimously upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2013 in McBurney v. Young).

With those limitations in mind, MDDC looked at the information school systems publicly share on their websites, without requiring someone to contact the school system by phone or email, or through a formal public records request. It is a mixed picture.

MDDC used a checklist of 20 types of information, starting with basic details such as email addresses, phone numbers and