June 2021 BOE meeting minutes
Dear Monroe Township School District (Middlesex),
This is a request for public records made under OPRA and the common law right of access. I am not required to fill out an official form. Please acknowledge receipt of this message.
Records requested:
Emails among Chrissy Skurbe, Katie Belko, and Michele Arminio sent between June 16, 2021 to Sept 30, 2021 related to the meeting minutes of the June 16, 2021 meeting of the Monroe Township Board of Education.
Yours faithfully,
S. Aziz
Good afternoon,
The District is in receipt of your request for records under the Open Public Records Act. Your request sought “Emails among Chrissy Skurbe, Katie Belko, and Michele Arminio sent between June 16, 2021 to Sept 30, 2021 related to the meeting minutes of the June 16, 2021 meeting of the Monroe Township Board of Education.” Your request requires further clarification. A proper request under OPRA must identify with reasonable clarity those documents that are desired. See Bent v. Stafford Police Department, 381 N.J. Super. 30, 37 (App. Div. 2005). In particular, OPRA “is not intended as a research tool litigants may use to force government officials to identify and siphon useful information. Rather, OPRA simply operates to make identifiable government records ‘readily accessible for inspection, copying, or examination.’ N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1.” MAG Entm't, LLC v. Div. of Alcoholic Beverage Control, 375 N.J. Super. 534, 543 (App. Div. 2005). Your request would require the records custodian read through all e-mails among the aforementioned individuals and make the discretionary determination whether each communication related to the meeting minutes. As your request fails to identify a specific government record, it is denied, at this time, until further clarification is provided.