Board affirms dismissal of John Bachelor's public-records complaint; Ron Stave abstains

The Saint Croix Central School District board on a voice vote affirmed the district's administrative response and dismissed an appeal filed by John Bachelor challenging how the district handled his public-records requests.

District administrator Tim (S2) told the board Bachelor had filed 202 records requests to date while board member Ron Stave submitted four requests prior to his appointment. Tim said staff had provided responsive records for 116 of Bachelor's requests, noted 50 requests had no responsive records, and said the district demanded prepayment for location costs on 22 requests. Tim described one example of a high-effort search: "the location of 405 emails across 344 email accounts would take a significant amount of the district's IT director's time." After that report, a motion to "affirm the final administrative response to dismiss the complaint" was moved and seconded and carried, with Stave abstaining from participation and the vote.

John Bachelor addressed the board before the appeal was taken up, saying he had filed public-records requests across multiple districts and that he suspected differential treatment. In public comment he said, verbatim, "I refuse to be shamed over unnecessary legal fees for demanding transparency from a school district that that previously imposed unconstitutional restrictions on public comment speakers." Bachelor also said the district had provided fee estimates exceeding $4,000 on some of his requests.

Board discussion focused on process and scope rather than findings of wrongdoing. Tim and staff emphasized the district follows legal counsel and DOJ compliance guidance when estimating location costs and offered that many of the contrasting cases differed substantially in scope, the need for IT-assisted email searches, or attorney vetting for redaction. The board recorded the motion as carried and noted Ron Stave's abstention; no further action was directed.