For Sunshine Week, Gazette looks at who requests public information

...This year, The Gazette asked Montgomery County, Montgomery County Public Schools and 19 municipalities within the county for copies of all of the PIA requests they received in 2013. The newspaper asked for a copy of each request, the government’s reply and, when feasible, the information that was provided to fulfill those requests... 

...Among the largest sample size — 92 PIA requests made to Montgomery County Public Schools — individual people living in the county (sometimes representing a watchdog group) made about 40 percent the requests. Journalists had about 20 percent of the requests... 

...Requests to the school system ranged from AP test scores to discussions about head injuries among football players. There was an inquiry about a possible investigation of the conduct of a basketball coach (it was unfounded). A parent wanted a recap of “an event” that happened one afternoon in 2004 at an elementary school... 

...The school system gave The Gazette about 1,400 pages of letters and records, most of them double sided-pages. It also included 13 DVDs with additional information. These were provided at no charge...

 http://www.gazette.net/article/20140319/NEWS/140319155/1022/for-sunshine-week-gazette-looks-at-who-requests-public-information&template=gazette