Dear Ms. Whitehead,

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 May 4, 2022. As such, the seven (7) business day deadline to respond to your request is May 13, 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 Ms. Whitehead,

The Ridgewood Public Schools received your Open Public Records Act (OPRA) request on May 4, 2022. As such, the seven (7) business day deadline to respond to your request is May 13, 2022. This response to your request is being provided to you on the 6th business day after the custodian’s receipt of said request.
Your OPRA request sought access to the following:

Total settlement amounts per calendar year to Ridgewood Public School parents in regards to educational services over the past 10 years.

This request seeks information or asks questions and does not identify specific government records. As such, your request is an invalid OPRA request and is denied. When a request is “complex” because it fails to specifically identify the documents sought, then that request is not “encompassed” by OPRA. See New Jersey Builders Association v. New Jersey Council on Affordable Housing, 390 N.J.Super. 166, 180 (App. Div. 2007). A proper request under OPRA must identify with reasonable clarity those documents that are desired, and a party cannot satisfy this requirement by simply requesting all of an agency's documents. See Bent v. Stafford Police Department, 381 N.J.Super. 30, 37 (App. Div. 2005). Custodians are not required to conduct research or create new records in response to an OPRA request.
If your request for access to a government record has been denied or unfilled within the seven (7) business days required by law, you have a right to challenge the decision by the [insert name of agency] 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 Government Records Council (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, NJ, 08625, by e-mail at [email address], or at their web site at www.state.nj.us/grc. The GRC 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