BRISTOL, Va. – Bristol Virginia Utilities has returned five years worth of scholarship applications containing students’ financial and "highly personal" information to area high schools, and is revamping its policy for interviewing graduating seniors.
The utility’s board of directors voted Jan. 28 to return the applications after the Herald Courier requested access to them earlier that month.
The board ruled at last week’s meeting that it was "improper" to have scholastic information and "highly personal essays from 17-year-olds" in the public domain, said the board’s attorney, G. Walter Bressler, whose firm also represents the city.
The applications also contained copies of financial statements, letters of recommendation and grade transcripts.
Because BVU is city owned, its financial information is public record, and board members expressed a concern that high school student applications might be seen as public documents, according to Bressler and others.
BVU staff said they did not make copies of the applications for their records, and retained only the names, contact information and scores of past winners of the scholarship, which awards $1,500 to a student per semester, renewable over four years.
In returning the applications, Bressler said that BVU had "nothing to hide," and that the board made its decision after contacting past winners of the scholarship about releasing their applications and receiving negative reactions.
The schools – Virginia High, John Battle High and Tri-Cities Christian – "made it particularly clear they didn’t know if anyone would apply if [an application] was going to be in the public domain," Bressler said.
Wes Rosenbalm, chief executive officer of BVU, said the board "felt it was information on minors that we should not have in our possession."
Bressler and Rosenbalm said they are looking into a way of evaluating student applications without possessing hard copies, but had not formulated a new policy.
dgilbert@bristolnews.com | (276) 645-2558
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