A New Jersey Judge found that school districts in Bergen County acted within the law when they redacted certain information in a journalist’s Open Public Record request.
In total sixteen school districts withheld certain information about their fire and security drills after a reporter from New Jersey’s WNBC-TV made the request on January 29. School officials blacked out the days, times and the duration of their drills by citing a security exemption, according to patch.com.
Judge Robert P. Contillo found on June 4 that the districts rightfully redacted the data they submitted.
Under New Jersey law schools are required to keep their security drill records dating back to 2012. The districts involved in the court case included Allendale, Alpine, Bergen Tech, Bergenfield, Demarest, Englewood Cliffs, Hillsdale, Little Ferry, Lyndhurst, Northern Highlands, Old Tappan, River Vale, and Tenafly, Oakland K-9 and Ramsey K-12 school districts.