Dear Uncommon Schools North Star Academy,

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:
A copy of the "Master Services Agreement with Uncommon Schools and North Star Academy Charter School of Newark" referred in your Board Meeting below:

Board Meeting Date/Time: North Star Academy Charter School of Newark Board of Trustees Meeting 6:00 p.m., Monday June 17th, 2019 North Star Regional Office (18 Washington Pl)

Item: "Ms. Gerald presented the resolution to adopt Master Services Agreement (inclusive of its initial Services and
Fee Addendum) with Uncommon Schools and North Star Academy Charter School of Newark. After
discussion, it having been moved and duly seconded, the board voted unanimously to approve the resolution as outlined in the Resolution to adopt Master Services Agreement with Uncommon Schools and North Star
Academy Charter School of Newark."
(https://northstar.uncommonschools.org/wp...)

Yours faithfully,

John Kenneth

Dear Karin,
Thank you for your response.

As you can see from your own Board Minutes, it's very clear that the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and the Master Services Agreement are not the same.
"Mr. Brett Peiser and Mr. Bob Howitt presented an update on the revised Memorandum of
Understanding (MOU) between Uncommon Schools and North Star Academy. Mr. Howitt shared
his notes on the negotiations and edits for the current MOU draft."
(https://northstar.uncommonschools.org/wp...)

"Ms. Gerald presented the resolution to adopt Master Services Agreement (inclusive of its initial Services and Fee Addendum) with Uncommon Schools and North Star Academy Charter School of Newark. After
discussion, it having been moved and duly seconded, the board voted unanimously to approve the resolution as outlined in the Resolution to adopt Master Services Agreement with Uncommon Schools and North Star Academy Charter School of Newark. Mr. Redburn abstained. "
(https://northstar.uncommonschools.org/wp...)

Using the logic in your response (which is without merit), you can "colloquially" refer any and every document Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to "circumvent the OPRA Regulations."

You claimed that "Agreement is exempt from disclosure under OPRA by virtue of N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1.1, in that it contains “proprietary commercial or financial information” and also “information which, if disclosed, would give an advantage to [Uncommon School’s] competitors.”

OPRA allows Custodians to redact certain information (must be made in a visually obvious manner) with providing a detailed specific reason explaining the lawful basis for each redaction.

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:
Please provide me a copy of the Master Services Agreement with Uncommon Schools and North Star Academy Charter School of Newark by redacting the document so that it doesn't contain “proprietary commercial or financial information” and also “information which, if disclosed, would give an advantage to [Uncommon School’s] competitors.

Yours sincerely,

John Kenneth

Dear Karin Gerald,

A correction and clarification:

After I read the response once more, I noticed that the last sentence says " the Agreement is exempt from disclosure ........ also “information which, if disclosed, would give an advantage to [Uncommon School’s] competitors.”
When I read it before, I overlooked the fact that the last sentence was actually saying "Uncommon School" and not the "North Star".

If this letter was written by a Counsel who is working for the Uncommon Schools, please kindly remind him that my request was not for an organization which is not subject to OPRA .

If you, as a public school official, wrote this response yourself, then this is a clear conflict of interest per N.J.S.A. 18A:12-24 and you are violating NJ School Ethics Act.

Since this response has been written for "Uncommon School", it is irrelevant to my request; therefore, I am still expecting a response to my original request.

Thank you

Yours sincerely,

John Kenneth