FFLC Wins Critical Preliminary Motion in Civils v. VSBA

The Founding Freedoms Law Center (FFLC) announced today that the Hanover Circuit Court ruled in favor of its client, Sabrina Civils, and against the Virginia School Boards Association (VSBA) in a critical pre-trial motion. The Court denied the VSBA’s attempt to have a lawsuit dismissed after the VSBA argued that it is not a public body subject to open records requests under Virginia’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

Click here to view our initial press release and a basic overview of the case. 

Hanover parent Sabrina Civils was denied her request for financial records from the VSBA, including the amounts paid to it by Virginia’s public school boards. FFLC brought the case to provide accountability for parents and taxpayers against an entity that in every material way resembles a public body as defined by Virginia law and exerts substantial influence over the policies and practices of all Virginia school boards. The Hanover Circuit Court agreed that FFLC has pled facts which, if proven true at trial, could establish that the VSBA is in fact a public body subject to open records requests.

Michael Sylvester, FFLC’s Litigation Counsel noted, “This victory is an important first step to holding VSBA accountable. With the VSBA’s significant influence on school board policies, transparency is critical. Our client, like all citizens of Virginia, should have insight into this organization.”

The VSBA will now be required to file with the Court a formal answer to FFLC’s petition within the coming weeks.