OKLAHOMA CITY — The Oklahoma State Department of Education is working to overhaul its open records system after acknowledging years of difficulties in processing public information requests.
The agency admits that under multiple administrations, including but not limited to under Ryan Walters leadership, it has not always been easy for the public and media to obtain requested records.
"So we are working within the agency with the new transition team and with the new leadership to create a sense of openness, start building bridges with the public and engaging in more of a sense of public trust both within the agency and without," said Jacki Phelps, general counsel for the State Department of Education.
The transparency initiative centers around a new online portal on the agency's website designed for submitting public records requests. Officials believe the system is easier to navigate and includes tracking capabilities to monitor progress on fulfilling requests.
Members of the OSDE communications team, legal team and open records fulfillment team outlined the department's new approach to records disclosure.
WATCH: OSDE launches effort to improve public records transparency
"It is my policy and my belief that if it is a public record and if it is available for disclosure, and if we can disclose it, we will disclose it," Phelps said.
As part of the reform effort, OSDE's open records, legal and communications teams met with media members for nearly two hours December 9 to discuss past issues with records requests and ways to further improve open records request fulfillment.
The meeting's goal, identify problems and create a more open and responsive system moving forward.
The new portal is now available on the OSDE website for public use.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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