The recent "network outage" at the Upper Perkiomen School District caused plenty of problems for administrators, educators, and students.  It also caused plenty of concern for the rest of the community.

            It took several weeks to fix the issue and I believe it wasn't an inexpensive process.  According to some sources, the problem is not yet fully corrected.

            Now that we've been assured that the problem is over–or maybe not–simple questions deserve answers.

            They include:

            What was the cause of the network/computer outage?

            How much did it cost to find and correct the issue?

            Are steps in place to prevent the problem from happening again?

            If answers to those simple questions cannot be provided by the school board or the school administrators, why?  If the entire incident is still under investigation, then tell the people. Keep them informed, that's what school districts should do.  How often do we hear the saying: "transparency in government is a must"? 

            Don't hide information.  If you can't share it, tell the people that you can't and why you can't.  That's a step in trust and being transparent without going into details that can't be shared.

            If the simple questions stated above had been shared with the public at a public school board meeting, that would be transparent.  The fact that you have to ask about something that should be shared as soon as possible, not covered up as soon as possible, is not being transparent.  The cause of a major information systems outage, and the risk of compromised data, in this day and age, are a serious concern for people.

            So, the people don't know what caused the problem or if it can happen again.  They don't know if any data was compromised.  They don't know what it cost or how much has been invested, so far, to correct the problem.  They deserve better.  

            If the questions can't be answered, tell the people why.  It's that simple.

            Having a school attorney send the Town and Country a 57-page document, very heavily redacted, didn't answer the concerns listed above and certainly falls short of giving people the right to know.  The documents didn't even reveal why the information can't be shared; i.e. the information can't be shared at this time due to an ongoing investigation. 

            If you want the people's trust, you must trust them as well.  If you don't trust them with certain information, tell them why.  If you can't share certain information with them, tell them why.  Don't hide it.

            Transparency is a must.