A Rhode Island school district is demanding more than $117,000 from a concerned parent who requested public records related to a controversial public school teacher. The parent, Nicole Solas, filed a records request with Barrington Public Schools seeking one year’s worth of emails from teacher Ben Fillo—including those mentioning President Donald Trump—as well as all of Fillo’s classroom materials.
The district responded with a price tag of $117,130, claiming it would take 7,735.5 hours of labor to fulfill the request. Solas’ legal counsel, James McGlone of the Goldwater Institute, called the cost “outrageous” and argued that the public interest in this case demands the information be made available at no cost or at least a drastically reduced one.
Fillo, a social studies teacher, drew national attention after he celebrated the assassination of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk on social media, calling Kirk a “piece of garbage” and mocking his death with the comment “not in heaven.” Kirk was shot and killed at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10. Fillo’s public comments prompted widespread outrage, particularly from parents and conservatives.
“Public school teachers publicly celebrating murder teaches children that political violence is permissible when you have a different point of view,” Solas said. “Children will be afraid of disagreeing with their teachers in the pursuit of truth and knowledge.”
Solas initially requested all of Fillo’s emails from Sept. 1, 2024, to the present. She later expanded her request to include all emails using the term “Trump” dating back to Jan. 1, 2016. The district claimed to have retrieved 789 emails in the first batch and 1,438 in the second.
Fillo has been placed on administrative leave, removed as co-president of the local teachers’ union, and is under investigation by an independent attorney appointed by the school committee. The investigation will examine whether Fillo’s actions violated school policy or state law. The district has so far focused on procedure, transparency, and legal compliance while remaining largely silent on the substance of Fillo’s behavior.
Critics argue this is yet another example of public institutions shielding politically biased educators from accountability while burdening taxpayers and parents who seek transparency. At issue is not only the extreme cost but also the principle of public access to materials and conduct funded by the public.
