West Des Moines Schools Get High Marks During Sunshine Week

The grades are in and West Des Moines Community Schools has moved to the head of the class.

The school district got an A- for transparency, earning a “Sunny Award” from the Virginia-based Sunshine Review, a nonprofit group advocating for public access to government information, the Des Moines Register reported.

The nonprofit group used a 10-point transparency checklist to rate the availability of information government web sites. The school district was lauded in all areas except meetings, which the Sunshine Review said had “incomplete” records.

Five other Iowa governments received A ratings. A+ ratings were earned by the cities of Davenport and Iowa City and the Sioux City Community school District. In addition to the West Des Moines school district, Johnson and Scott counties also got kudos for transparency with A- ratings.

The reviews were released during Sunshine Week, March 10-16, a national initiative to promote a dialogue about the importance of open government and freedom of information. Participants include news media, civic groups, libraries, nonprofits, schools and others interested in the public’s right to know.