As the Arkansas legislature has mulled over a stream of recent bills seeking to amend the Freedom of Information Act, some look to make school security plans inaccessible to the public.
Two bills filed by republican Senator Gary Stubblefield would make the security plans of K-12 schools and state colleges exempt from the FOIA. Supporters of the bills argue the security information could be used against the schools, while government activists say transparency is the only way for the public to know if existing plans are adequate, according to The Republic.
Republican Senator John Cooper, who has proposed bills limiting the public’s access to state employee’s information, says the public’s access is unnecessary in some cases.
“I don’t think the public has to know what the plan is for it to be a good plan,” Cooper said. “I try to balance the public risk versus what could be gained by revealing information to the public.”
In this session legislators have submitted more than 20 proposals to amend the FOIA.
