What it took to get these public records





On April 3, the World sent identical requests to the Oklahoma State Department of Education and Statewide Virtual Charter School Board for all records from recent years involving representatives of the U.S. Department of Education Office of Inspector General and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The Statewide Virtual Charter School Board responded with its records less than three weeks later with no information censored, or what is commonly referred to as redaction.

At the state Department of Education, two document searches by the Office of Management and Enterprise Services were required to produce records deemed responsive to the World’s request. Department officials also asked that the World agree to narrow the scope of its request, so it could weed out records concerning other matters.

Then, the release of the records was delayed by several weeks because Brad Clark, who now serves as general counsel at the state Department of Education, submitted the records for review by attorneys at OIG and FBI.