We understand the need for the Brookhaven School District to charge a fee to grant public records requests. After all, those requests are sometimes labor-intensive and time-consuming.

But we hope the district will set a reasonable fee that doesn’t serve to keep its public records out of the public’s hands.

The state’s Public Records Act spells out plainly how public bodies should charge fees for granting public records requests. “ … each public body may establish and collect fees reasonably calculated to reimburse it for, and in no case to exceed, the actual cost of searching, reviewing and/or duplicating and, if applicable, mailing copies of public records. Any staff time or contractual services included in actual cost shall be at the pay scale of the lowest level employee or contractor competent to respond to the request. Such fees shall be collected by the public body in advance of complying with the request.”

Public bodies have sometimes used fees as a sort of roadblock for granting public records requests. If you want to pick up a copy of school board meeting minutes, you probably don’t mind paying a couple dollars. But you probably don’t think it’s worth much more than that. A fee as small as $25 would likely keep most of the public from requesting to see those minutes.

Superintendent Ben Cox told the school board Tuesday that companies often file requests for purchase orders at the district, and then turn around and sell them to marketing and sales teams of various vendors. He said it takes time and resources to gather the public information.

That’s why the district plans to add a fee for the requests. And that seems perfectly reasonable. But we encourage the district to create a fee structure that doesn’t keep public records away from the public.