Kenedy ISD Superintendent Richard Irizarry released the minutes from the February and March school board meeting 23 days after the written request was submitted by The Countywide.

According to Irizarry, the delay was a result of a misunderstanding about what was requested. He assumed the request was for "approved" minutes, and the minutes of the board meeting had not yet been approved.

Joe Baker, publisher of The Countywide, said the request was very clear.

"The request said, ‘Please provide us with the minutes from all Kenedy ISD school board meetings that took place in February and March of 2007,’" Baker said. "We did not specify approved minutes in our request. In the past, when we made these kinds of requests, using the exact same wording, we have always been sent the draft minutes. It was usually sent to us the same day or the day after we made the request, so we’re not sure why the school district would deviate from its normal practices in this case."

"If the superintendent was confused about what we requested, he could have very easily picked up the phone and asked us if we wanted draft or approved minutes," Baker explained. "In fact, the law requires him to do so. Instead, he sat on this information for 23 days and we’re not happy whenever a public entity fails to release public information promptly."