WKYT reports:

"State education officials are investigating a complaint about the homecoming activities at Hazard High School last week according to a report from the Lexington Herald-Leader.

"'The district cannot comment on the matter while it is under investigation at the state level,' Hazard Independent Superintendent Sondra Combs said of the incident that received national attention. Combs apologized for the incident at a schoolwide assembly last week and said that 'fun trumped judgment.'

"Officials will not say which educator is being investigated.

"After submitting an open records request [to KDE], Chelsea F. Young, the Deputy General Counsel with KDE's Office of Legal Services, gave the following response:

"'KDE is in possession of records that it is not producing pursuant to exemptions set forth in KRS 61.878(1). Complaints of educator misconduct filed with the Education Professional Standards Board that have not yet resulted in an educator case are preliminary in nature and, therefore, exempt from disclosure pursuant to KRS 61.878(1)(i) and (j). Kentucky Attorney General's Opinion 17-ORD-189, supports KDE's position that such records are exempt.'

"This means that any complaints that have been filed about a specific person cannot be shared with the public until a course of action has been determined.

[KDE warned] "that some cases can take a long time to reach a final decision."

While it is true that the preliminary documents exceptions have been interpreted to permit nondisclosure of complaints of public employee misconduct until final disciplinary action has been taken or a decision to take no disciplinary action is made, these exceptions can be waived by the public agency and they do not restrict official comment.

In most cases, public agencies are disinclined to do so.