July 30, 2021

This correspondence is being sent in response to the Open Public Records Act (“OPRA”) request you submitted to the Ridgewood Public Schools. As the official Records Custodian, I received this request on July 30, 2021. As such, the seven (7) business day deadline to respond to your request is August 10, 2021. I will be sending a response to your request within this deadline.

If your request for access to a government record has been denied or unfilled within the seven business days required by law, you have a right to challenge the Board’s decision to deny access. At your option, you may either institute a proceeding in the Superior Court of New Jersey or file a complaint with the GRC by completing the Denial of Access Complaint Form. You may contact the GRC by toll-free telephone at (866)-850-0511, by mail at P.O. Box 819, Trenton, New Jersey, 08625, by e-mail at [email address], or at their website at www.state.nj.us/grc. The Council can also answer other questions about the law. All questions regarding complaints filed in Superior Court should be directed to the Court Clerk in your County.

Scott T. Bisig, M.Ed.
Business Administrator/Board Secretary
Ridgewood Public Schools

August 10, 2021

Dear Sir/Madam:

The Ridgewood Board of Education (“District”) received your Open Public Records Act (“OPRA”) request on July 30, 2021. The seven (7) business day deadline to respond to your request is August 10, 2021. As such, the District is timely responding to your OPRA request in accordance with New Jersey law.

Your OPRA request seeks the following records:

Electronic copies of all e-mails between Keith Cook [email address], Terry Cardew [email address], Jeff Nyhuis [email address], Tim Boucher [email address] and Patti Auger and [email address] from June 1 to June 30, 2021.

Your request is invalid under OPRA. The New Jersey Government Records Council (“GRC”) has upheld an established criteria deemed necessary to specifically identify and facilitate a search for responsive e-mails and other written communications. See Armenti v. Robbinsville Bd. of Educ., GRC Complaint No. 2009-154 (Interim Order May 24, 2011); see also Zahler v. Ocean Cty. College, GRC Complaint No. 2013-266 (Jan. 2016); Elcavage v. West Milford Twp., GRC Complaint No. 2009-07 and 2009-08 (April 2010).

In Elcavage v. West Milford Twp., GRC Complaint No. 2009-07 and 2009-08 (April 2010), the GRC determined that in accordance with legal precedent: “[I]n order to specifically identify an e-mail the request must contain (1) the content and/or subject of the e-mail, (2) the specific date or range of dates during which the e-mail was transmitted or the e-mails were transmitted, and (3) identification of the sender and/or the recipient thereof.”

Here, your OPRA request fails to set forth the content and/or subject matter of the requested e-mail correspondence. Please re-submit your request so that the District may search for responsive records.

Your OPRA request has been closed.

Very truly yours,


Scott Bisig
Business Administrator/Board Secretary

August 17, 2021

Dear Mr. Sullivan:

The Ridgewood Board of Education (“District”) received your clarified Open Public Records Act (“OPRA”) request on August 11, 2021. The seven (7) business day deadline to respond is August 20, 2021. As such, the District is timely responding to your request in accordance with New Jersey law.

Your clarified request seeks the following records:
[A]ll E-mails between Terry Cardew, Patti Auger, Keith Cook, Tim Boucher and Jeff Nyhuis regarding Year End Softball BBQ and Banquet and playoff game scheduling Dates: June 1-30, 2021 Subjects: Playoff Games Game Re-Schedule Softball Banquet/Softball BBQ

Below please find a dropbox link with twenty-five (25) pages of records which the District has identified as responsive to your request. Please be advised that redactions have been made to remove personal e-mail addresses in order to protect the individuals’ reasonable expectation of privacy pursuant to N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/kex3tl9o7pu12l...

Additionally, please note that N.J.S.A. 47:1A-9.a states in pertinent part that the provisions of OPRA shall not abrogate any exemption of a public record or government record from public access made pursuant to “regulation promulgated under the authority of any statute or Executive Order of the Governor” and “any federal law.” Both the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (“FERPA”), 20 U.S.C. 1232(g), and related New Jersey regulations, N.J.A.C. 6A:32-7.5, preclude educational institutions from disclosing student records, including student names, initials, and personal identifying information, to unauthorized third parties. The definition of “personal identifying information” includes a student’s name or other information that, alone or in combination, is linked or linkable to a specific student that would allow a reasonable person in the school community, who does not have personal knowledge of the relevant circumstances, to identify the student with reasonable certainty. See 34 C.F.R. 99.3. As such, identities of students have been redacted from the responsive records.

Your OPRA request is now deemed answered and closed. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Very truly yours,

Scott Bisig
Business Administrator/Board Secretary