Montgomery County schools are fielding far more requests for public records than in previous years — and now want to hire more staffers to handle them.

Complying with laws on transparency, it seems, can get expensive.

The public school system is bound by Maryland’s Public Information Act, which gives people access to a wide array of records. Anyone can ask district officials to share budget documents, emails between school board members and data on student outcomes.

In 2021, the district processed about 220 public records requests. In 2025, that figure topped 530 — a 140% jump.

Officials say these requests have increased both in number and complexity.

Three new positions would help the district comply with state rules that require requests be resolved quickly, generally within 30 days. In some cases, officials can deny requests or charge hefty fees to assemble the records for disclosure.

“Additional staffing is requested to meet statutory deadlines consistently and ensure accurate, legally compliant responses without diverting instructional or operational staff from their primary responsibilities,” district spokeswoman Liliana López wrote in an email to The Banner.

Several factors can account for the burgeoning requests in school districts across the nation.

After the pandemic hit — as campuses became mired in fights over mask mandates, as well as the way teachers could talk about race, gender and America’s complex history — districts faced an influx of public records requests and had to grapple with the extra administrative costs.

Parents and advocacy groups often used the law to dig into controversial issues, asking for documents related to lessons on racial equity and books with LGBTQIA+ themes.

In a charged political climate, fights over school records can escalate. In November, the Trump-aligned America First Legal group sent a letter accusing Montgomery County Public Schools of hindering the release of documents via its MPIA process.

A county mother had requested “copies of all teacher training materials, guides, lessons, and other related resources, as well as all student-facing curriculum, worksheets, and other materials, for the 7th and 8th-grade Family Life Human Sexuality lessons,” according to the letter.

District officials say they’re dealing with more public records requests that require intervention or get tied up in litigation.

Last year, MCPS staff worked with the Maryland Public Information Act ombudsman on 18 cases. In previous years, they only needed help to resolve one or two complex requests.

‘Public school system, public money’

To Janis Zink Sartucci, of the Parents’ Coalition of Montgomery County, this is a self-inflicted problem. If the school district proactively made more information public, she said, it could trim down the number of requests.

She said she gets frustrated when the district denies her requests or asks her to pay money for the documents. Officials can charge fees to cover the costs incurred to prepare records if it takes longer than two hours, though those charges can be waived in some cases.

Her group is often interested in learning more about contract terms and employee salary data.

“Public school system, public money,” she said. “If you’re transparent, people don’t have to ask so many questions.”

News organizations are also frequent filers of records requests. Reporters often rely on the law to bring to light information not in the public domain.

The Banner, for example, filed an MPIA request in September to obtain hundreds of work orders related to mold on campuses, which illuminated the depth of the problem in Montgomery County schools.

It’s unclear exactly how much these new positions could end up costing. They’re included in Superintendent Thomas Taylor’s nearly $3.8 billion operating budget proposal, which must still receive multiple sign-offs before it moves forward.

Officials said one new position would handle MPIA requests full-time within the communications department. The two other positions would take on public records requests in addition to other duties within the legal and transportation departments.