A citizen requested personal information on all students in the system, but he has withdrawn it after the school system resisted the request.
Brendan Jennings, who headed the Chattanooga Tea Party when it was in operation and is associated with Friends of Hamilton, said, "On Thursday afternoon, Hamilton County Schools notified parents of an open records request for publicly accessible information.
While we were aware that such a notification would be sent to parents, we were not notified in advance about the specific timing of that notification. We apologize for not being quite prepared with a ready response for the deluge that followed.
"We have heard from many parents and listened to their concerns. Our intent in no way was to invade anyone’s privacy, but rather to help foster closer communications among parents while increasing transparency in the classroom. Sort of an electronic PTA or NextDoor for parents.
"The past year has been a challenging one for parents, including many in our group. We have previously been involved in political campaigns, including the statewide effort to end forced annexation in Tennessee, and we wanted to help create a more advantageous playing field for parents in presenting their concerns to school boards and school administrators.
"Based on the response we received, we are hereby rescinding the open records request. We will continue to work with other like-minded groups to help parents get their voices heard at school boards and help make sure curricula and teaching methods more appropriately reflect what parents want in their schools."
County school officials earlier on Thursday said, "Based on the guidance of our board attorney and in an effort to be transparent, Hamilton County Schools advised its community in an email earlier today that a private citizen has requested certain contact information pertaining to our students and families. Under Tennessee’s Public Records Act, much of this information, including the names and addresses of students, are available to the public. Ordinarily, this information is used to honor graduates, scholars, and athletes.
"In this case, however, the citizen seeks information of all 45,000 plus students and parents in our district. The request encompasses home addresses, phone numbers, emails, and additional information. We consider this request to be an invasion of the privacy of our students and parents.
"While the Board is bound by the law, we respect the privacy of our students and their families. We understand that families are considering what legal action they can take to block this request, and the Board stands ready to support and partner with them however we can.
"No information will be shared with the requestor unless and until we have exhausted all legal options. We will provide an update to our families on this matter once we have satisfactorily resolved the issue."