In the Dec. 18 edition of The Perspective, the newspaper released a story about the school district blocking websites. In order to write the story, the paper filed a Freedom of Information (FOIA) request for emails and subsequently received a bill for $8,806.

As a result of the article, The Perspective received support from many across the country, as well as other news outlets across the world.
There has also been word of proposed legislation in Michigan to amend the Freedom of Information Act statute.

When this reporter attempted to contact Governor Rick Snyder’s office for comment, his secretary responded by saying, “We can not comment on any proposed legislation, or any potential future legislation until it reaches the governor’s desk.”

The Perspective has also been in contact with members of the Michigan state legislature since the article’s release, including local representatives Kurt Heise, Kristy Pagan, Patrick Colbeck and Southfield representative Jeremy Moss.

Representative Pagan released a statement on Jan. 6, saying, “It is incredibly disappointing that the Plymouth-Canton Community Schools would stick a high school student reporter with an $8,000 bill for a Freedom of Information Act request. As public entities, our school systems should be as open and transparent as possible. The district has a responsibility and should be held accountable to students, parents, teachers, support staff, and residents. Accessing information that should be public should not cost a student an outrageous amount of money.”

Senator Colbeck discussed the situation on Twitter tagging board member Michael Siegrist, saying about the school district: “Your specialty is concealing the truth. You are complicit with $8K invoice to PCCS journalism student seeking the truth.” He also reached out to the Perspective staff, and gave his support in the fight to release information.

Also discussing the situation on Twitter was Siegrist, a board trustee. He tweeted, “Journalism is a noble path and I am proud of our PCEP Perspective staff. Keep up the good work!” 

Mike Maloney, a P-CCS board trustee, also gave his support to The Perspective.

There were several locals who were not very supportive of the Perspective’s case. Darren McKinley said, “A lot of the statements [on the Detroit News article’s comments thread] are based on emotion rather than objective facts. There are many reasonable comments as to who can view those emails. A low wage employee may not be able to have access to those emails.” 

There are some citizens who seemed to support the Perspective’s cause too, however. In the comments section on the Detroit News story about the FOIA, Mary MacMaster said, “Full out transparency and availability of information should be the ultimate goal, not creating costly and deleterious hoops for people to have to jump through.”

The fight for the information the staff was being charged for continues. The Perspective would still like the emails that they were not able to obtain under the amended FOIA, and is currently working out a solution as to how that might be possible for the least amount of cost. There is ongoing discussion between both The Perspective staff and P-CCS administration to work out a solution.