A Michigan Court of Appeals has ruled on the side of The Traverse City Record-Eagle in a case about transparency. The ruling says that Traverse City Area Public Schools cannot use the Open Meetings Act to withhold documents. In the autumn of 2019, the Record-Eagle filed a Freedom of Information Act Request to get a document which had complaints on then-TCAPS Superintendent Ann Cardon. The school board declined the request and a subsequent appeal, saying the document was a part of the minutes of a closed session. The lawsuit to get the documents was filed in January 2020. The Michigan Open Meetings Act says that separate minutes are to be taken for a closed session, and that "these minutes... are not available to the public, and shall only be disclosed if required by a civil action filed under section 10, 11, or 13. "