More transparency by the Butler School Board is a campaign issue in these weeks leading up to the Nov. 8 election.

Anyone who has attended a meeting of the board is aware that the board isn’t generous in terms of the background information it is willing to provide. In fact, it can accurately be described as stingy and stubborn — making people seeking background data file a formal request under the state’s right-to-know law.

Rather than erring on the side of openness, board members seem comfortable with the presumption that most people will choose not to navigate the red tape of the right-to-know law.

When a district resident attends a meeting, he or she has access to just a bare-bones agenda providing a list of the topics to be discussed — no more. Even members of the news media receive no supporting data regarding non-routine issues being discussed.

In general, the attitude of this board is that the less district residents know the better, but residents deserve more.

The school district’s operation isn’t the private fiefdom of the nine-member board and several administrators. In fact, the district is owned by the taxpayers who finance its operation, and they should be treated with respect regarding their questions and concerns.

That isn’t the case when the board makes the public jump through hoops unnecessarily rather than happily providing sought-after information that doesn’t fall under the category of data not privy to the public — like certain personnel matters.

The Butler board will have at least four new faces — possibly five — following the Nov. 8 balloting. Definitely leaving the board, effective with the board’s reorganization in December, will be Arthur Bernardi, Arthur Haag, Benjamin Holland and Corey Hurley. Helene Abram-owitz is seeking re-election.

At a Policy Committee meeting Monday, board members who expressed opposition to providing more background information at or before the board’s committee or regular meetings were Linda Patten, board president; John Conrad, vice president; and Abramowitz; Paula Opalka; and Joseph Wiest.

Holland spoke in favor of more transparency, Haag’s comments left unclear which side of the issue he more strongly favored, Bernardi didn’t comment, and Hurley was absent.

On Monday, board candidates Bill Halle and Jim Keffalas clashed with board members over their refusal to provide what the two candidates described as “pertinent documents,” despite the board’s written policy on public participation — Policy 903 — stating that it will do so.

If the board doesn’t want to adhere to the policy, it should pass one stating its true intentions.

On Monday, Patten and Abramowitz lamented the loss of an administrative secretary as an excuse for not providing more data. But even when that secretary was working, the board was anemic in terms of its willingness to better inform the public.

Board members said documents could not be posted online because they sometimes change before meetings, and because some are confidential.

That too is an unacceptable excuse. Legitimately confidential documents can be withheld, and changes to released documents can be noted when the issues are being discussed at a meeting.

The Butler School District is a $90 million operation paid for by public funds, whether that money comes from local taxation or by way of state subsidies or federal programs. Thus, the public has a right to know how money is being managed, and whether decisions on money and other matters are in their best interests.

It’s to be hoped that with the board’s December reorganization comes a strong commitment on behalf of the public’s right to know — a commitment that’s lacking now.

If that doesn’t happen, district residents, even without an election campaign in play, should continue to clamor for the transparency in district operations that they deserve.

— J.R.K.