Dear Sir or Madam,

This correspondence is being sent in response to the Open Public Records Act (“OPRA”) request you submitted to Ridgewood Public Schools. As the official Records Custodian, I received this request on November 7, 2022. As such, the seven (7) business day deadline to respond to your request is November 16, 2022. 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.

Sincerely,

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

Dear Sir or Madam,

The Ridgewood Public Schools (“District”) records custodian received your Open Public Records Act (“OPRA”) request on November 7, 2022. The seven-business day deadline to respond to your request is November 16, 2022. As such, the District is timely responding to your OPRA request in accordance with New Jersey law.

Your OPRA request seeks the following records:

Email Header information including but not limited to sender, recipient, subject, date & time fields in an electronic format that's searchable (PDF or Excel) file.
Please search the email archive (including deleted emails) for any emails from or to domain @doe.nj.gov for date range Jan 1, 2022 to Nov 5, 2022.

On the following dropbox link please find 3,567 records that the District has identified as responsive to your request. Please be advised that student record information has been redacted. See L.R. o/b/o J.R. v. Cherry Hill Board of Education which issued a published decision affirming a ruling by the Superior Court of New Jersey, which held that a district could redact all parent and student information, including initials when providing settlement agreements in response to an Open Public Records Act (“OPRA”) request. Also See L.R. v. Camden City Public School District, 238 N.J. 547 (2019). N.J.S.A. 47:1A-9(b) allows exemptions from disclosure for any grant of confidentiality established or recognized by the Constitution of this State, statute, court rule, or judicial case law, to apply to OPRA. The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (“FERPA”), 20 U.S.C. 1232(g), and its supplemental regulations codified under 34 C.F.R. § 99.30, precludes schools from disclosing student names and personal identifying information without obtaining consent. See also N.J.A.C. 6A:32-7.1 to -7.8.

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/ii7i6ajtp...

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