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WHEELING – A Wheeling lawyer – and father of a third grader – is taking the Ohio County Board of Education to court for refusing to disclose specific information about the West Virginia General Summative Assessment test being administered to students.
Attorney David L. Delk has filed a suit in Ohio County Circuit Court asking the school board be ordered to fully comply with Delk’s April 7 Freedom of Information request seeking all public records related to the WVGSA, commonly called Common Core tests.
He asked for all relative communication between the state Department of Education and the board regarding the tests, documents from the Ohio County school administration presented to individual schools, documents from the schools sent to parents about the tests,and a copy of the test.
In a response to Delk about the FOIA request, Ohio County Schools attorney Patrick S. Casey wrote that the board does not have access to the tests.
Delk said the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium developed the system of assessments aligned to the Common Core State Standards in English language arts/literacy and mathematics for grades 3-8 and 11.
He claims parents have a right to know what questions are being asked on the tests even though teachers and school administrators are not permitted to talk about it.
His July 6 lawsuit claims the schools have access to the questions.
“When you give a test to 330 3rd graders, you have access to what questions are being asked,” he said.
In response to the suit, Casey stated school officials do not have access.
Delk said he received information produced by Ohio County Schools that explains the “Print on Demand” function for the test.
“The bottom of the first page and top of the second page explains the ‘Print on Demand’ function which allows a school official to print out an entire test,” he said. “No local education professional was permitted to keep, copy, review or discuss any test materials with anyone, including their peers and parents. If I ask my daughter’s teacher what she had problems with on the test, the teacher will be unable to provide a specific answer, and likely any answer.”
In a counterclaim, Casey asked for a financial judgment against Delk for $132.25 as payment for 529 pages generated for his FOIA request.
A request to Ohio County School to comment on the matter was not returned Friday.