Dear Sir:

The Ridgewood Public Schools (“District”) is responding to your Open
Public Records Act (“OPRA”) request.  Your request is set forth below:  

Legal bills for all attorneys providing services to the Board of Education
from January 2023 to August
2023.

Please find bills that were currently available for redaction in the
Dropbox link below.

[1]https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/lvfrwtts2...

The District requires additional time to compile, review, and redact (if
necessary) the remaining legal bills that may be responsive to your
request.  The District anticipates providing a response by October 11,
2023.  The District also reserves the right to request an additional
extension of time, if necessary.  See Scheeler v. New Jersey Department
of Educ., GRC Complaint No. 2014-123 (2016).  

Sincerely,

Julie Kot

Business Administrator
Ridgewood Public Schools

--

Julie Yohana

Assistant to the Business Administrator & Manager of IT

Ridgewood Public Schools

201-670-2700 ext. 10543

[2]www.ridgewood.k12.nj.us

show quoted sections

NOTICE:

You are advised that e-mail correspondence and attachments between the public
and the Ridgewood Board of Education are obtainable by any person who files a
request under the NJ Open Public Records Act (OPRA) unless it is subject to a
specific OPRA exception.  You should have no expectation that the content of
e-mails sent to or from school district e-mail addresses, or between the public
and school district officials and employees, will remain private.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

References

Visible links
1. https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/lvfrwtts2...
2. http://www.ridgewood.k12.nj.us/

Dear Sir:

The Ridgewood Public Schools (“District”) is responding to your Open
Public Records Act (“OPRA”) request. 

Your request is set forth below:  

Legal bills for all attorneys providing services to the Board of Education
from January 2023 to August 2023.

On September 27, 2023, we sent the bills that were available from our
attorneys.   On the Dropbox link below please find 30 additional pages of
invoices which the District has identified as responsive to your request.
Please be advised that the District has made redactions to these invoices
to remove information protected by attorney-client privilege. OPRA
specifically provides that certain records are deemed to be confidential,
and thus do not fall into the definition of a “government record” under
OPRA. This includes any record within the attorney-client privilege. See
N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1.1. OPRA further specifies that while attorney bills are
not fully exempt from public access, “such bills or invoices may be
redacted to remove any information protected by the attorney-client
privilege.” N.J.S.A. 47:1A-9.b. provides that the provisions of OPRA shall
not abrogate or erode any grant of confidentiality recognized by court
rule. 

[1]https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/n2nxlq9zo...

Accordingly, the attached bills have been redacted to remove references to
specific topics of legal research, legal strategies, and
discussion/correspondence between the District’s legal counsel and the
District’s representatives to ensure that confidential communications in
the course of the lawyer-client relationship are not inadvertently
revealed. See, e.g., Scheeler v. Borough of West Cape May, GRC Complaint
No. 2014-143 (Nov. 2016).

Your OPRA request is now deemed answered and closed. 

Sincerely,

Julie Kot

Business Administrator
Ridgewood Public Schools
--

Julie Yohana

Assistant to the Business Administrator & Manager of IT

Ridgewood Public Schools

201-670-2700 ext. 10543

[2]www.ridgewood.k12.nj.us

show quoted sections

NOTICE:

You are advised that e-mail correspondence and attachments between the public
and the Ridgewood Board of Education are obtainable by any person who files a
request under the NJ Open Public Records Act (OPRA) unless it is subject to a
specific OPRA exception.  You should have no expectation that the content of
e-mails sent to or from school district e-mail addresses, or between the public
and school district officials and employees, will remain private.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

References

Visible links
1. https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/n2nxlq9zo...
2. http://www.ridgewood.k12.nj.us/