Teachers' union sues South Kingstown School Committee, parent over public records release

CRANSTON, R.I. (WJAR) — There is more fallout from the public records controversy in South Kingstown.

The National Education Association Rhode Island (NEARI) and NEA South Kingstown (NEASK) filed a complaint in Rhode Island Superior Court on Monday to "protect teachers' privacy rights," NEARI Communication Director Stephanie DeSilva Mandeville shared Wednesday.

"This action seeks to temporarily restrain the School Department from releasing any information related to these APRA requests," the union wrote in a statement. "NEARI believes many of these documents are not public records as defined under APRA and/or fall under APRA’s exclusions and therefore are not subject to disclosure."

The South Kingstown School Committee in June decided against suing a woman who filed hundreds of public records requests regarding school curriculum.

Nicole Solas of Wakefield said she filed more than 200 public records requests with the school district after it refused to answer questions about how race and gender are discussed in the classroom.

Solas' questions began when she was told by a principal at Wakefield Elementary School that teachers no longer refer to students as boys and girls, opting to use inclusive gender pronouns instead.

She said that conversation prompted additional questions about how South Kingstown schools discuss what's known as critical race theory.

The list of pending requests include requests such as "All emails to or from Linda Savastano containing the world 'race,'" "All emails to or from Linda Savastano continuing (sp) the word, 'whiteness'," and "All lesson plans in which the concept of 'whiteness' as a social construct is discussed, at all grade levels."

Superintendent Linda Savastano resigned in the wake of the political mailer controversy.

Other requests Solas submitted include questions about choir lyrics, emails from teachers, and lesson materials.

NBC 10 has embedded pending requests below.

"We are asking the Court to conduct a balancing test to determine whether our members' privacy rights outweigh the public interest," said NEARI Deputy Executive Director Jennifer Azevedo in a statement. "We believe they do, and those records should either not be disclosed or should be redacted accordingly."

The lawsuit names school committee members Christie Fish, Kate McMahon Macinanti, Melissa Boyd, Michelle Brousseau and Paula Whitford, Interim Superintendent Ginamarie Masiello, Nicole Solas and John Doe Hartman.

Hartman, in the remaining requests, asks for a slew of communications among school administrators and staff members.

"The APRA system is not an alternative to the civil discovery process and is not to be used for abusive purposes or a fishing expedition," the complaint reads.

School committee attorney Aubrey Lombardo told NBC 10 it did not have a comment at this time. NBC 10 also reached out to Solas for comment but has not heard back.