Dear Saddle River School District,

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.

Records Requested:
I am seeking any correspondence from the community to the Saddle River Board of Education since January 1, 2022, that advocates for the establishment of a middle school within the district.

I want to emphasize that the subject matter of this request is sufficiently clear and not overly broad. Therefore, this request should not be denied on these grounds. I refer to the case STEVEN WRONKO VS. TOWNSHIP OF JACKSON, ET AL. (L-0679-16, OCEAN COUNTY AND STATEWIDE). In addition, I invoke the decision in Burnett v. County of Gloucester, 415 N.J. Super. 506 (App. Div. 2010) in further support of my request.

Common Law: Under common law, I seek access to the requested documents to ensure transparency and accountability in the spending of public funds by the Saddle River School District, and to verify that the district is complying with applicable laws and regulations regarding the community's interest and advocacy for the establishment of a middle school within the district.

(1) To the extent that any such records contain personally identifiable information related to any individual student, please redact that personally identifiable information prior to disclosure.
(2) To the extent that any such records are exempted from disclosure under OPRA, and also unavailable under the common law right of access, please provide a complete Vaughn index of all such records, disclosing “sufficient detail to prove the requestor ‘with as much information as possible to use in presenting his case’ and to enable the ‘decision-maker’s review of governmental records to determine whether they contain privileged material.’” Paff v. Division of Law, 412 N.J. Super. 140, 161 (App. Div. 2010).

Yours faithfully,
Brian Hampel

Dear Kaitlyn Lawler,

At the Board of Education meeting on September 13, 2023, Dr. Cinotti mentioned that the decision to conduct a feasibility study stemmed from the BOE's commitment to addressing community concerns. In that meeting, she noted that around 50 community members had advocated for the creation of a middle school in the district. I am requesting access to the written communications that support this as referenced in this OPRA request as outlined below.

The email I received below from Dr. Cinotti on Nov 22, 2023 for which you were CC:ed, suggests that my OPRA request was clear and not excessively broad as Dr. Cinotti was able to articulate that, "all discussions about this topic were informal. I have no emails regarding this........As I mentioned last week in our conversation". Therefore, there appears to be no misunderstanding as to the subject of my OPRA request as suggested by the District's Denial.

To ensure a productive outcome and to prevent unnecessary effort and time expenditure, I'm hoping this email clarifies any doubts with the Saddle River Records Custodian as it relates to this OPRA request having been denied.

Kindly confirm if this allows the BOE to provide a response to this requests that is not a denial of access. Just to be clear, a response of "No Records", by stating that no records exist, is different from a "Denial of Access", where an agency has the records but refuses to provide them, usually citing specific exemptions under OPRA.

Should I face an unjust denial, I intend to pursue further action as specified in "N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 to 47:1A-13," which may unfortunately result in additional expenses for Saddle River taxpayers. Thus, I would much rather find a resolution that avoids this course of action.

Regards,
Brian Hampel