A Multnomah County judge on Friday sided with a reporter and a parent seeking records that Portland Public Schools hid from public view.

The school district is now preparing to release records disclosing the names of employees on paid administrative leave and how long that leave has gone on.

Early in 2017, reporter Beth Slovic and crusading parent Kim Sordyl filed public records requests, seeking the names of all district employees on paid administrative leave.

District officials refused, so the women asked the Multnomah County district attorney to order the district to make public the names. The district attorney did so.

But the district again refused to make them public and filed suit against the pair. District officials said then, and reiterated Friday, that they were seeking clarity from the courts, not trying to be vindictive to people seeking public records.

Friday, Multnomah District Judge Judith Matarazzo provided that clarity. From the bench, she verbally granted the two women's legal motions. She ordered the school district to make public a document showing the names of employees on leave and the date the leave began.

Disclosure of the records is important, Sordyl said, because administrative leave is intended to be a short short-term paid exile while allegations against an employee are checked. The district normally is forced to pay both the employee on leave and a second person to do the employee's work while he or she is away.

A well-run human resources shop would quickly complete an investigation and clear the employee to return to work or else demote or terminate him or her, Sordyl said. Instead, under the leadership of former top HR attorney Stephanie Harper, she said, the district let accused employees languish on expensive paid leave for as long as three years.

Slovic, first at Willamette Week, then at The Portland Tribune, exposed paid administrative leaves for educators that stretched longer than two years.

Sordyl said release of the records will benefit the public. "They will gain transparency. It will also prompt the district to start handling their HR issues in a timely manner instead of paying two people to do one job."

Matarazzo is expected to issue a written ruling next week, said Jeff Merrick, attorney for Sordyl.

Slovic declined to comment and said her attorney was unavailable Friday afternoon.

The school district, meanwhile, is already preparing the records for release, spokesman Harry Esteve said.

Julia Brim Edwards, the school board chair who took office last July, said via email, "This lawsuit was yet another issue left over from the previous district administration. The new board and district leadership are committed to greater transparency and disclosure. ... This ruling provides not only a resolution for the reporter and the citizen requesting the documents, but also provides clear direction for the district."

-- Betsy Hammond