From staff reports
The father of a Dalton City Council member contributed $300 for a city school board work session held in Crandall on Friday.
Dalton Public Schools officials said Jim Bethel gave the money to cover the cost of the board renting a room and eating a meal at Cohutta Springs Conference Center for an all-afternoon work session to discuss the district’s long-term goals and plans.
Board members also contributed $10 each to cover the cost of the food, they said. The total cost was $275, but officials said Bethel made the donation before they knew an exact amount. Superintendent Jim Hawkins initially declined to give the donor’s name, saying he requested anonymity. Officials released the name after an open records request from The Daily Citizen.
State sunshine laws allow some school system records to remain confidential, but Georgia Press Association attorney David Hudson said no such law applies in this case.
“There is no exception that applies to documents showing donors to a public high school or elementary school,” Hudson said.
Jim Bethel, the father of Dalton City Council member Charlie Bethel, said his family has a long history of involvement in public education and is longtime friends with board chairman Steve Williams. Bethel’s father-in-law, Tom Jones, served on the Dalton Board of Education for 28 years.
