Matt Kadosh is a journalist at TAPintoNewark, where this first appeared.

 A Superior Court judge on Tuesday, Jan. 23, ordered a report that details allegations of racism at Global Studies High School and recommends solutions be submitted to the court so that she can determine if the document should be made public.

Judge Mayra V. Tarantino, at a brief hearing, ordered the closed-door examination — referred to as an “in camera” review – of the school district-commissioned report by Creed Strategies.

It followed arguments by attorneys for the Newark Teachers Union, which sued to have the document released after the Newark Public Schools denied the union’s request under the Open Public Records Act and the Common Law right of access.

“We agree with the court’s decision to order in camera submission of the Creed Strategies Report within two weeks, as well as with the court’s decision to review whether investigatory materials gathered by Creed Strategies in connection to that report are subject to OPRA,” Raymond M. Baldino, attorney for the NTU, said in a statement following the hearing.

“This case has not reached a final resolution on whether those records will be disclosed, but the Newark Teachers Union will continue to fight for their disclosure.”

Tarantino ordered the document submitted to the court within two weeks. The Newark Public Schools have cited the “deliberative process” exemption to OPRA as the legal basis for not releasing the report.

“We are claiming they are exempt under deliberative process privilege because this report was used as the basis for the district to enact certain recommendations,” Craig Novak, an attorney representing the Newark Schools told reporters after the hearing.

Novak said not just the “sensitive nature of the subject,” but the law allows for the district to withhold the report. He cited a case from the Education Law Center as his basis.

The report, and the district’s withholding of the document, have been the subject of significant public scrutiny in recent months with some school board members and the Newark branch of the NAACP calling for the document to be released.

The school district has released select findings of the report, which officials said talks about creating a culture where “racial issues and issues of race” can be openly discussed.

At the hearing, Tarantino asked that the school district include written arguments with its submission of the report — arguments she said would not be a part of the court record.

“When you oppose these OPRA matters your opposition is … a little skinny in terms of the arguments because you don’t want to inadvertently disclose what it is you are trying to protect,” she said. “You can include with the document a more detailed memorandum explaining to the court why the deliberative process privilege applies.”

The discussion of the report also follows claims of harassment and racial hostility by two former teachers at Newark’s School of Global Studies.

“Because we understand the allegations addressed by the report concern troubling reports of racial discrimination against students at the Newark School of Global Studies, in our view, there is a compelling public interest in the facts relating to such allegations being made public, so that they can be addressed with the full participation of the school community,” Baldino said.