Copyright New York Post
A Rhode Island public school district reportedly charged a mother roughly $117,000 for records pertaining to a high school teacher who was placed on paid leave after calling slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk a “piece of garbage.” Benjamin Fillo, a social studies teacher at Barrington High School, was ousted in September shortly after posting a rant on TikTok branding Kirk a “piece of garbage” who “hated” the LGBTQ community, women’s rights, and democracy. One irate mother submitted a public records request for information related to Fillo’s school email and course materials — but the district pushed back with a steep fee, according to a letter from the law firm representing Barrington Public Schools. Nicole Solas sought to obtain any emails Fillo sent from Sept. 1 2024 onward referencing “Trump” and a secondary request for more email correspondences sent since Jan 1. 2016 also flagging “Trump.” Solas additionally asked for all of Fillo’s “curriculum materials” he used “to teach the young and impressionable minds of other people’s children who are entitled to an education free from indoctrination,” according to the letter. The law firm wrote that Solas clarified she was looking for all material Fillo used since he started teaching at the school in 2010, which came out to thousands of documents from 157 courses stored in three different learning management systems, according to the letter. The records request flagged a staggering 789 emails Fillo sent containing the word “Trump” since Sept. 1 2024, according to the letter. Solas’ request, though, wasn’t cheap. If she wanted to obtain all the requested materials, she would have to fork over $117,130.50 — with the 15-year curriculum alone costing roughly $116,000, according to the letter. “This estimate that we received is exorbitant, completely unreasonable, just to get the curriculum materials,” Solas told Fox News Digital in an interview Thursday. Solas told the outlet that she insisted on reviewing the curriculum materials in full because that is “the only way that you can see what kids are [doing] in public schools.” Solas noted that she does not live in the Barrington School District and sent her children to private school. She’s now pushing the school to release the materials free of charge. “I just don’t see how this can stand if we file a lawsuit on it,” Solas said. Shortly after Fillo was placed on leave, a group of outraged students and parents stormed into a school board meeting to push for Fillo’s permanent removal. “No matter what anyone says to me, I will never stand for violence, especially of a man who was publicly murdered in front of his wife, one of his children and thousands of students and other bystanders,” Jakari, one of Fillo’s students, said during the meeting.
