Janet McKinney addressed the Suffolk City School Board during public comment on Oct. 23 to complain about the timing and the cost of a recent Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request response.

McKinney said she submitted a FOIA request on Sept. 30 seeking public-speaker forms from Sept. 2023 through Sept. 2025. She said the statutory five-day response deadline was Oct. 7 but that the first communication she received was an email on Oct. 7 asking if she wanted an estimate of cost. "I got my reply at 04:58 on October 7. Wasn't a reply to the request. It was to ask me, did I want an estimate of cost in advance?" she said.

McKinney said she received an estimate about a week later for $673.40 and asked for an itemized breakdown. According to McKinney, the school division’s breakdown listed 13 hours at $48.10 per hour, which does not match the arithmetic she calculated. She also questioned why the estimate included eight hours to scan documents she said are submitted electronically by speakers. "If we're sending them by email, why are we then turning around and scanning those?" she asked.

McKinney told the board the estimate felt "punitive" and asked that the school board revise the cost to five hours at $48.10, which she calculated as $240.50, while she works to narrow the request to reduce the estimated fee.

The board did not take immediate action on the request during the meeting; public-comment rules were explained earlier in the meeting, and board members said they typically direct the superintendent to investigate public-comment or process complaints and report back to the board if appropriate.