Gierl v. Mequon-Thiensville Sch. Dist.
Decision Date | 07 December 2022 |
Docket Number | 2021AP2190 |
Parties | Mark Gierl, Petitioner-Respondent, v. Mequon-Thiensville School District, Respondent-Appellant. |
Court | Wisconsin Court of Appeals |
APPEAL from an order of the circuit court for Ozaukee County: Cir Ct. No. 2020CV240 STEVEN MICHAEL CAIN, Judge.
Before Gundrum, P.J., Neubauer and Grogan, JJ.
¶1 Mequon-Thiensville School District contends the circuit court erred in granting Mark Gierl's motion for summary judgment on his writ of mandamus and ordering the District to release a parent e-mail list to Gierl as he had requested. We conclude the court did not err.
¶2 Gierl's petition for a writ of mandamus states:
On June 24, 2020, the District sent out an email inviting "parents and guardians in our school community to participate in a webinar this Friday on the topic of privilege and race." The email described the webinar, titled "The Talk: A Necessary Conversation on Privilege and Race with Our Children," as including topics such as the "transitional model of change," the "spectrum of racism," the "Phenomenon of the George Floyd case" and "interventions to help become a powerful ally."
Gierl subsequently requested from the District the list of e-mail addresses to which the invitation was sent. In response, the District sent Gierl a letter indicating the invitation was sent to "all parents and staff members" of the District. The District provided the list of all staff e-mail addresses to which the invitation was sent but refused to provide the list of parent e-mail addresses, stating, "the District does not believe that there is a statute or case explicitly requiring or prohibiting disclosure of the list of parent email addresses and as such, we have decided to respectfully decline your request for parent email addresses." Within the letter the District also referred to a 2010 letter by an assistant attorney general indicating it was not unreasonable under the Wisconsin public records law balancing test for the District of South Milwaukee to deny a request for parent e-mail addresses on the district-stated basis that disclosing parent e-mail addresses would inhibit parent-school communication by discouraging parents from providing their e-mail addresses.[1] ¶3 Gierl filed this petition for writ of mandamus pursuant to the public records law, seeking the list of parent e-mail addresses to which the June 24, 2020 invitation was sent. The parties filed cross-motions for summary judgment, and the circuit court granted summary judgment to Gierl. The District now appeals.
¶4 The District contends the circuit court erred in granting Gierl summary judgment and ordering the District to release the parent e-mail addresses. We conclude the court did not err.
¶5 Our review of a circuit court's decision on summary judgment is de novo. Behrendt v. Gulf Underwriters Ins Co., 2009 WI 71, ¶11, 318 Wis.2d 622, 768 N.W.2d 568. Summary judgment is appropriate when there are no genuine issues of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Id.
¶6 In regard to Wisconsin's public records law, we have stated:
John K. MacIver Inst. for Pub. Pol'y, Inc. v. Erpenbach, 2014 WI.App. 49, ¶¶13-14, 354 Wis.2d 61, 848 N.W.2d 862 (emphasis added; citations omitted).
¶7 Furthermore, the legislature has written:
[I]t is ... the public policy of this state that all persons are entitled to the greatest possible information regarding the affairs of government and the official acts of those officers and employees who represent them.... [P]roviding persons with such information is declared to be an essential function of a representative government .... To that end, [Wis. Stat. §§] 19.32 to 19.37 shall be construed in every instance with a presumption of complete public access, consistent with the conduct of governmental business. The denial of public access generally is contrary to the public interest, and only in an exceptional case may access be denied.
Wis. Stat. § 19.31 (2019-20)[2] (emphasis added). As our supreme court has noted, this statement "is one of the strongest declarations of policy to be found in the Wisconsin statutes." See Zellner v. Cedarburg Sch. Dist., 2007 WI 53, ¶49, 300 Wis.2d 290, 731 N.W.2d 240. Following this declaration, Wisconsin maintains a "strong presumption of complete openness with regard to public records." Id., ¶55.
¶8 The District asserts that the parent e-mail addresses do not relate to the "affairs of government and the official acts of those officers and employees who represent them." Like the circuit court, we disagree. The District, a government entity, uses government resources to collect e-mail addresses of District parents and then uses those e-mail addresses to promote and advance selected matters of interest to District personnel. As the circuit court noted:
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