They did give their names, a phone number and an address. A reporter trying to get information about the number of violent incidents at Tracy Unified's West High School was asked repeatedly who she was and why she wanted the information. The district eventually provided some information but not the statistics the reporter requested. At Lodi Unified's Tokay High, school staffers couldn't understand why a reporter wouldn't explain why he wanted information about violent incidents at the campus. It's sometimes in the psyche of school officials to be tight-lipped about records, according to Stephen Davis, a professor at University of the Pacific's Benerd School of Education.
Schools are just very conservative, almost to the point of being paranoid.
And there is a lack of knowledge about the law. School officials say questioning people who want information comes with the job. Variety of excuses Even after all the questioning, reporters were not given access to overtime figures, lists of violent incidents and teacher salaries more than two-thirds of the time. School officials said state law dictates how they keep most records. When we receive and spend dollars, we have to attach codes to everything.