Transparency Reversed? BOE Pulls Legal Bills After Promising Openness—Here’s What You Need to Know

Subsequent to the March 3rd RIH BOE meeting, the BOE has removed the legal bills and OPRA log from the district website, 'pending future legal advice to the Board of Education from Special Counsel'. See https://www.rih.org/departments/business-office/audits-financial/legal-fees.

The Board claimed it was improving transparency by publishing legal invoices and OPRA logs, only to take them down weeks later without much explanation other than it was on the advice of legal counsel. If transparency builds trust, what does this reversal accomplish?

The redacted legal invoices for 2021-2024, obtained via my OPRA requests, are still available at: https://rihboardwatch.org/legal-fees#transparency-expanded-analysis