SECTION: OPERATIONS
TITLE: PUBLIC RECORDS
ADOPTED: October 20, 2003
REVISED: November 17, 2008
801. PUBLIC
RECORDS
1. Purpose The Board recognizes the
importance of public records as the record of the district’s actions and the
repository of information about this district.
The public has the right to access and procure copies of public records,
with certain exceptions, subject to law, Board policy and administrative
regulations.
2. Definitions Financial record- any account, voucher
or contract
65 P.S. dealing with the receipt or
disbursement of funds or
Sec.
67.102 acquisition, use or
disposal of services, supplies, material, equipment or property; or the salary
or other payments or expenses paid to an officer or employee, including the
individual’s name and title; and a financial audit report, excluding the
audit’s underlying work papers.
Public
record-a record, including a financial record, that is not protected by a
defined privilege or is not exempt from being disclosed under
one of the exemptions in
Record-information,
regardless of physical form or characteristics, that documents a district transaction
or activity and is created, received or retained pursuant to law or in
connection with a district transaction, business or activity, including: a
document; paper; letter; map; book; tape; photograph; film or sound recording;
information stored or maintained electronically; and a data-processed or
image-processed document.
Response-the
district’s notice informing a requester of a granting of access to a record or
the district’s written notice to a requester granting, denying, or partially
granting and partially denying access to a requested record.
Requester-a legal resident of the
3. Authority The
Board shall make the district’s public records available
65 P.S. for access inspection
and duplication to a requester any
Sec.
67.302 state resident,
in accordance with law, Board policy and
67.305,
67.504, administrative regulations.
67.701
4.
Delegation of The Board
shall designate an Open Records Officer,
Responsibility who shall be
responsible to:
65 P.S.
Sec. 67.502 1. Receive written requests for access to
records submitted to the district.
2.
Review and
respond to written requests in accordance with law, Board policy and
administrative regulations.
3.
Direct
requests to other appropriate individuals in the district or in another agency.
4.
Track the
district’s progress in responding to requests.
5.
Issue interim
and final responses to submitted requests.
6.
Maintain a log
of all record requests and their disposition.
7.
Ensure
district staff are trained to perform assigned job
functions relative to requests for access to records.
65 P.S. Upon receiving a request for
access to a record, the
Sec. 67.502 Open
Records Officer shall:
67.901, 67.1101
1. Note the date of receipt on the written
request.
2.
Compute and
note on the written request the day
on which the five-day period for response will expire.
3.
Maintain an
electronic or paper copy of the written request, including all documents
submitted with the request, until the request has been fulfilled.
4.
If the written
request is denied, maintain the written request for thirty (30) days or, if an
appeal is filed, until a final determination is issued or the appeal is deemed
denied.
5.
Guidelines
Requesters
may access and procure
65 P.S. copies
of the public records of the district during the regular
Sec. 67.701 business hours of the district
offices.
A
requester’s right of access does not include the right to remove a record from
the control or supervision of the Open Records Officer.
65 P.S. The
district shall not limit the number of records
Sec. 67.302 requested.
65 P.S. When
responding to a request for access, the district
Sec. 67.705 is
not required to create a record that does not exist nor to compile, maintain,
format or organize a record in a manner which the district does not currently
use.
42 U.S.C. Information
shall be made available to individuals with
Sec. 12132 disabilities
in an appropriate format, upon request and with
28 CFR sufficient advance notice.
Sec. 35.160,
35.164
65 P.S. The
district shall post at the administration office
Sec. 67.504 and
of the district’s web site, the following
67.505
information:
1.
Contact
information for the Open Records Officer.
2.
Contact
information for the state’s Office of Open Records or other applicable appeals
officer.
3.
The form to be
used to file a request, with a notation that the state Office of Open Records
form may also be used if the district decides to create its own form.
4.
Board policy,
administrative regulations and procedures governing requests for access to the
district’s public records.
Request
for Access
65 P.S. A written request for access
to a public record shall be
Sec. 67.504 submitted
on the required form(s) and addressed to
67.505, 67.703 the Open
Records Officer.
Written
requests may be submitted to the district in person, by mail, and to a
designated facsimile machine.
65 P.S. Each
request must include the following information:
Sec.
67.701
67.703
1.
Identification or description of the requested record, in
sufficient detail.
2.
Medium in
which the record is requested.
3. Name and address of the individual to receive
the
district’s
response.
65 P.S. The district shall not
require an explanation of the
Sec. 67.703 reason
for the request or the intended use of the requested record, unless other wise
required by law.
Fees
65 P.S. The
Board shall approve and the district shall keep
Sec. 67.1307 current a list of reasonable fees
relative to requests for public records.
65 P.S. No
fee may be imposed for review of a record to
Sec.
67.1307 determine
whether the record is subject to access under law.
65. P.S. Prior
to granting access, the district may require
Sec.
67.1307 prepayment of estimated
fees with the fees required to fulfill the request are expected to exceed $100.
65 P.S. The
Superintendent may waive duplication fees
Sec.
67.1307 when the requester
duplicates the record or the Superintendent deems it is in the public interest
to do so.
Response
to Request
65. P.S. District employees shall be
directed to forward
Sec.
67.502 requests for access to
public records to the Open
67.702
Records Officer.
65. P.S. The
Open Records Officer shall respond as promptly
Sec.
67.901 as possible under the
existing circumstances, and the initial response time shall not exceed five (5)
business days from the date the written request is received by the Open Records
Officer.
The
initial response shall grant access to the requested record, deny access to the
requested record, partially grant and partially deny access to the requested
record, or notify the requester of the need for an extension of time to fully
respond.
65 P.S. If
the district fails to respond to a request within five (5)
Sec.
67.901 business days of
receipt, the request for access shall be deemed denied.
Extension
of Time
65 P.S. If
the Open Records Officer determines that an
Sec. 67.901, extension
of time is required to respond to a
67.902 request, in accordance with the factors stated in law,
written notice shall be sent within five (5) business days of receipt of
request. The notice shall indicate that
the request for access is being reviewed, the reason that the review requires
an extension, a reasonable date when the response is expected, and an estimate
of applicable fees owed when the record become available.
Up
to a thirty (30) day extension for one (1) of the listed reasons does not
require the consent of the requester. If
the response is not given by the specified date, it shall be deemed denied on
the day following that date.
A
requester may consent in written to an extension that exceeds thirty (30) days,
in which case the request shall be deemed denied on the day following the date
specified in the notice if the Open Records Officer has not provided a response
by that date.
Granting
of Request
If
the Open Records Officer determines that the request will be granted, the
response shall inform the requester that access is granted and either include
information on the regular business hours of the administration office, provide
electronic access, or state where the requester may go to inspect the records or
information electronically at a publically accessible site. The response shall include a copy of the fee
schedule in effect, a statement that prepayment of fees is required in a
specified amount if access to the records will cost in excess of one hundred
dollars ($100.00), and the medium in which the records will be provided.
65 P.S. A
public record shall be provided to the requester in
Sec. 67.701 the
medium requested if it exists in that form; otherwise, it shall be provided in
its existing medium. However, the
district is not required to permit use of its computers.
65 P.S. The
Open Records Officer may respond to a records
Sec. 67.701 request
by notifying the requester that the record is
67.703
available through publicly accessible electronic means or that
the district shall provide access to inspect the record electronically. If the requester, within thirty (30) days
following receipt of the district’s notice, submits a written request to have
the record converted to paper, the district shall provide access in printed
form within five (5) days of receipt of the request for conversion to paper.
65 P.S. A public record that the
district does not possess but
Sec.
67.506 is possessed by a third
party with whom the district has contracted to perform a governmental function
and which directly relates to that governmental function shall be considered a
public record of the district. When the
district contracts with such a third party, the district shall require the
contractor to agree in writing to comply with requests for such records and to
provide the district with the requested record in a timely manner to allow the
district to comply with law.
65 P.S. If
the Open Records Officer determines that a public
Sec.
67.706 record contains information
both subject to and not subject to access, the Open
Records Officer shall grant access to the information subject to access and
deny access to information not subject to access. The Open Records Officer shall redact from
the record the information that is not subject to access. The Open Records Officer shall not deny
access to a record if information is able to be redacted.
65 P. S. If
the Open Records Officer responds to a requester
Sec. 67.905 that
a copy of the requested record is available for delivery at the administration
office and the requester does not retrieve the record within sixty (60) days of
the district’s response, the district shall dispose of the copy and retain any
fees paid to date.
Notification
To Third Parties
65 P.S. When
the district produces a record that is not a
Sec. 67.707 public
record in response to a request, the Open Records Officer shall notify any
third party that provided the record to the district, the person that is the
subject of the record, and the requester.
65 P.S. The
Open Records Officer shall notify a third party
Sec. 67. 707 of
a record request if the requested record contains a trade secret or
confidential proprietary information, in accordance with law and administrative
regulations.
Denial
of Request
65 P.S. If
the Open Records Officer district denies a request for
Sec. 67.901, access
to a record, whether in whole or in part, a
67.903 written
response shall be sent within five (5) business days
of receipt of the request. The response
denying the request shall include the following:
1.
Description of
the record requested.
2.
Specific
reasons for denial, including a citation of supporting legal authority.
3.
Name, title,
business address, business telephone number, and signature of the Open Records
Officer on whose authority the denial is issued.
4.
Date of the
response
5.
Procedure for
the requester to appeal a denial of access.
65 P.S. The Open Records Officer may
deny a request for
Sec. 67.506 access
to a record if the requester has made repeated requests for that same record
and the repeated requests have placed an unreasonable burden on the district.
65 P.S. The
Open Records Officer may deny a request for
Sec. 67.506 access
to a record when timely access is not possible due to a disaster, or when
access may cause physical damage or irreparable harm to the record. To the extent possible, a record’s contents
shall be made accessible even when the record is physically unavailable.
65 P.S. Information
that is not subject to access and is
Sec.
67.706, redacted from a public
record shall be deemed a
67.903
denial.
65 P.S. If a written request for
access to a record is denied
Sec. 67.1101 or
deemed denied, the requester may file an appeal with the state’s Office of Open
Records within fifteen (15) business days of the mailing date of the Open
Records Officer’s response or deemed denial.
Fees
Copies
of public records shall be provided upon payment of the following fee: $1.00 per page.
A
list of fees that may apply shall be provided to each requester, posted in the
district office, and be available electronically.
The
district shall not assess any fees for staff time or resources used to evaluate
a request for access to public records.
The
district may require prepayment of estimated fees when the fees required to
fulfill the request are expected to exceed $100.
References:
School
Code-24 P.S. Sec. 408, 518
Right-to-Know Law-65 P.S. Sec. 67.101 et seq.
Americans
With Disabilities Act-42 U.S.C. Sec. 12101 et seq.
Accessibility
to Communications, title 28, Code of Federal Regulations-28 CFR Sec. 35.160,
35.164
Board
Policy-800