STAFFORD, Va. — Despite requests to obtain emails sent to a new tipline for parents to report "divisive practices," Governor Glenn Youngkin's office is choosing to withhold records.
"The requested records are being entirely withheld pursuant to Section 2.2-3705.7 as working papers and correspondence of the Office of the Governor," an email from the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Office.
WUSA9 submitted a records request for emails sent to the helpeducation@governor.virginia.gov tipline.
The governor asked for parents to send his office “reports and observations” about “divisive practices” within Virginia schools for his team to catalog and "root out." Youngkin pointed to critical race theory (CRT) as an example of an “inherently divisive teaching practice."
The exemption cited discretionary, meaning Youngkin has control on what can be released but is choosing to keep the records a secret.
During his visit in Alexandria to promote grocery taxes, Youngkin said the contents of the emails are confidential.
"We do not report on anything from constituent services," Youngkin said. "It would be inappropriate to comment anything in the content, it would be like you were writing a letter to me and me disclosing it."
Virginia Coalition for Open Government Executive Director Megan Rhayne stressed there are ways to release information but the office is simply choosing not to. If confidentiality is a concern, redacting is one way to take the approach.
"They can take the names of the callers out, they can take the names of the teachers who are praised or complained of, there are a number of different ways they can package the information they don't have to withhold it altogether," Rhayne said.
The email tipline has been under severe scrutiny by educators and parents who find it is just a way to tell on teachers and undermine their position.
"It's kind of putting teachers in an enemy position," former Prince William County teacher Rebecca Anderson said of the tipline. "It seems like it's a way for people to tattle on teachers when teachers are basically doing their job and teaching the curriculum."
One of the parents who sent an email is Karla Alsop of Stafford County who is fighting to have the choice to send her daughter to school maskless. Her child is concurrently learning from home.
"We're using every single avenue available to get our kids back in school with masks off so as soon as he put it out there, I took the opportunity to email him about that specific issue," Alsop told WUSA9. "Until something changes, I have to stand up for my rights as a parent, for other parents and for my daughter."
Questions on how many emails have been sent to the tipline have gone unanswered.
In response to the tipline controversy, many parents chose to send emails with more of a positive message including who their favorite teacher was and why.