Dear Spring Lake Board of Education,

Please accept this electronic request for public records made under OPRA and the common law right of access. I am not required to fill out an official form or use a particular software platform to submit my request per NJSA 47:1A-5(f), which states that an email from a requestor including all of the information required on the adopted form shall suffice in place of a completed form as a valid government record request.

I HAVE NOT been convicted of any indictable offense under the laws of New Jersey, any other state, or the United States.

I WILL NOT use the requested government records for a commercial purpose.

I AM NOT seeking records in connection with a legal proceeding.

Records requested:
1. All visitor sign-in logs, sign-in sheets, or electronic visitor management system records for H.W. Mountz School for May 9, 2024 and May 10, 2024, including but not limited to any entries reflecting the arrival, presence, or departure of members of the Spring Lake Police Department or any other law enforcement personnel.
2. Any and all records, reports, logs, notifications, or written communications created or maintained pursuant to the Uniform State Memorandum of Agreement Between Education and Law Enforcement Officials and/or N.J.A.C. 6A:16-6.2(b)13 and (b)14, documenting, authorizing, or memorializing the entry of members of the Spring Lake Police Department or any other law enforcement personnel onto the grounds or into the buildings of H.W. Mountz School on May 9, 2024 and May 10, 2024.
3. Any incident reports, internal memoranda, emails, text messages, or written notifications between or among school administrators, staff, or Board of Education members concerning the presence of, contact with, or request for members of the Spring Lake Police Department or any other law enforcement officials at H.W. Mountz School on May 9, 2024 and May 10, 2024.
4. Any records reflecting communications between H.W. Mountz School or district personnel and the Spring Lake Police Department or any other law enforcement agency regarding law enforcement entry into or presence at H.W. Mountz School on May 9, 2024 and May 10, 2024, including but not limited to requests for law enforcement assistance.
5. A copy of the current executed Uniform State Memorandum of Agreement between the school district and the Spring Lake Police Department, as required by N.J.A.C. 6A:16-6.2(b)13.

My preferred delivery method for response(s) to this request is by E-mail as attachments. Please confirm you have received this request. If you are not the custodian of records, please forward my request to that person and provide their email address to me for future reference.

Regards,

Robert D. Clark

Dear Dr. LaValva:
This letter responds to the Spring Lake Board of Education’s denial of Request No. 1 in the OPRA response dated March 24, 2026. The denial is legally deficient and is hereby challenged.
The Denial
The Board denied access to visitor sign-in logs for H.W. Mountz School on May 9 and May 10, 2024, invoking the building security exemption under N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1.1 on the grounds that disclosure “would jeopardize the security of the building or facility or persons therein.” No particularized explanation was offered. The denial is a blanket invocation unsupported by any specific factual basis.
The Legal Standard
Under N.J.S.A. 47:1A-6, the burden of proof to establish that a denial of access is lawful rests squarely on the custodian. A bare recitation of the statutory language is insufficient to meet that burden. The New Jersey Supreme Court addressed the building security exemption directly in Gilleran v. Township of Bloomfield, 227 N.J. 159 (2016), and made clear that the security exemptions under N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1.1 do not provide a blanket exemption for any record that happens to touch on building access or security systems. Rather, the governmental entity must establish that the specific record requested, if disclosed, would create an actual and particularized risk to the security of the building or the persons therein. Id. at 172–76. The Court explicitly rejected claims that the Legislature “creat[ed] a blanket exception for any and all information about security measures.” Id. at 173. General assertions and abstract speculation do not suffice.
The Appellate Division applied this framework in Zezza v. Evesham Township Board of Education, No. A-0537-21 (App. Div. June 29, 2023) (unpublished), where a school board denied an OPRA request for surveillance footage from school grounds under the security exemption. The court found the board “simply failed to satisfy its burden” under N.J.S.A. 47:1A-6, and affirmed the trial court’s order requiring disclosure. Id. at *5. Applying the Gilleran standard, the court emphasized that “in surveillance video cases, as in all OPRA cases, the government retains the burden of proving that the denial of access is authorized by law.” Id. (quoting Gilleran, 227 N.J. at 174).
Why the Exemption Does Not Apply Here
A visitor sign-in log is not a security procedure, a security measure, or a surveillance technique. It is an administrative attendance record — a list of names, dates, times, and the purpose of visits. Nothing in the nature of that record, or in its disclosure, would reveal the layout of the school’s security system, the location or coverage of cameras, access codes, guard schedules, or any other information that could be exploited to breach the building’s security. The Board has offered no explanation — because none exists — for how disclosing the names and arrival times of visitors on two specific dates nearly two years ago would jeopardize the security of H.W. Mountz School today or at any future point.
The exemption the Board invoked was designed to protect information like emergency response procedures, camera placements, and building access protocols — not to shield administrative logs from public scrutiny. Stretching it to cover visitor sign-in sheets is precisely the kind of “blanket exemption” the Supreme Court rejected in Gilleran. See 227 N.J. at 173.
Demand
Demand is hereby made that the Board reconsider its denial of Request No. 1 and produce the responsive records. If the Board maintains its position, please provide a written statement specifically identifying: (1) the particular information within the visitor logs that would jeopardize building security if disclosed; and (2) the factual and legal basis for that determination, as required to meet the custodian’s burden under N.J.S.A. 47:1A-6.
If the Board continues to withhold these records without a legally sufficient particularized basis, a complaint may be filed with the Government Records Council and/or an action will be instituted in the Superior Court of New Jersey, Law Division, Monmouth County, seeking disclosure, a finding of knowing and willful violation, civil penalties pursuant to N.J.S.A. 47:1A-11, and attorney’s fees pursuant to N.J.S.A. 47:1A-6.
Regards,
Robert D. Clark