Dear Ms. Richmond.

The attached letter is in response to your three separate OPRA Requests
dated September 14, 2021 and three separate OPRA Requests dated September
15, 2021.  Due to the fact that the District was closed on Thursday,
September 16, 2021 in observation of the Yom Kippur Holiday, the seventh
business day by which the Board must respond to your September 14, 2021
Requests is Friday, September 24, 2021, and the deadline for your Requests
dated September 15, 2021 is September 28, 2021.  This response is being
provided to you within those timeframes.  The body of the response has
also been included below.

OPRA defines a “government record” of a public entity as “any paper,
written or printed book, document, drawing, map, plan, photograph,
microfilm, data processed or image processed document, information stored
or maintained electronically or by sound-recording or in a similar device,
or any copy thereof, that has been made, maintained or kept on file in the
course of his or its official business …”  N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1.1. 
Accordingly, the Board is required to produce only those records which it
maintains in the official course of business and which are not otherwise
exempt from production.  Pursuant to the definition of a government
record, a public entity is not required by OPRA to research information
and/or create records that do not exist in response to OPRA requests.  See
e.g., Mag Entertainment, LLC v. Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control,
375 N.J. Super. 537 (App. Div. 2005).

Your first Request dated September 14, 2021 sought the following:

Please provide me with the following

List of district physicians

Contact Information for each

Response:          Please be advised that an OPRA request is a vehicle for
accessing government records rather than for the purposes of submitting
questions and/or requests for information. As such, the Request could be
denied as improper.  However, in the spirit of OPRA, the Board’s
resolution for the appointment of the Board’s School Physicians for the
2021-2022 school year is enclosed.

Your second Request dated September 14, 2021 sought the following:

Please provide me with any and all correspondence from department of
health to the Superintendent and building principles on mask policies.

Response: Please be advised that an OPRA request is a vehicle for
accessing government records rather than for the purposes of submitting
questions and/or wholesale requests for information. Further, the GRC has
previously established that for an OPRA request seeking emails and/or
other written communications to be valid the request must contain: (1) the
content and/or subject of the e-mail or correspondence, (2) the specific
date or range of dates during which the e-mail/correspondence was
transmitted, and (3) a valid e-mail/correspondence request must identify
the sender and/or the recipient thereof.  Here the request does not
contain any date range or range of dates, and therefore does not identify
a specific government record and as such could be denied.

Notwithstanding the above, the Board does not have any documents that are
responsive to this request.  By way of further explanation, Governor
Murphy has issued Executive Orders 251 and 253, which require, among other
requirements, that masks are to be worn at all times in all public and
non-public schools in the State of New Jersey unless one of the exceptions
noted in those Orders is present.  Throughout this ongoing pandemic, the
District has consistently followed State and Local guidance as well as
specific mandates, and will continue to do so. 

Your third Request dated September 14, 2021 sought the following:

Please provide me with any and all correspondence from the NJEA to the
Superintendent and building principles regarding mask policies

Response: Please be advised that an OPRA request is a vehicle for
accessing government records rather than for the purposes of submitting
questions and/or wholesale requests for information. Further, the GRC has
previously established that for an OPRA request seeking emails and/or
other written communications to be valid the request must contain: (1) the
content and/or subject of the e-mail or correspondence, (2) the specific
date or range of dates during which the e-mail/correspondence was
transmitted, and (3) a valid e-mail/correspondence request must identify
the sender and/or the recipient thereof.  Here the request does not
contain a specific sender, rather just references the “NJEA” generally,
nor does it contain a date range or range of dates, and therefore does not
identify a specific government record and as such could be denied.

Notwithstanding the above, the Board does not have any documents that are
responsive to this request.

Your first Request dated September 15, 2021 sought the following:

Please provide me with Notes , emails and any correspondence including any
of the following school nurse , board of health and the superintendent on
the negative effects of the masks in school

Response: Please be advised that an OPRA request is a vehicle for
accessing government records rather than for the purposes of submitting
questions and/or wholesale requests for information. Further, the GRC has
previously established that for an OPRA request seeking emails and/or
other written communications to be valid the request must contain: (1) the
content and/or subject of the e-mail or correspondence, (2) the specific
date or range of dates during which the e-mail/correspondence was
transmitted, and (3) a valid e-mail/correspondence request must identify
the sender and/or the recipient thereof.  Here the request does not
contain any date range or range of dates, and therefore does not identify
a specific government record and as such could be denied.

Notwithstanding the above, the Board does not have any documents that are
responsive to this request.  By way of further explanation, Governor
Murphy has issued Executive Orders 251 and 253, which require, among other
requirements, that masks are to be worn at all times in all public and
non-public schools in the State of New Jersey unless one of the exceptions
noted in those Orders is present.  Throughout this ongoing pandemic, the
District has consistently followed State and Local guidance as well as
specific mandates, and will continue to do so.

Your second Request dated September 15, 2021 sought the following:

Any and all contracts with any and all district physicians and their
groups and / or offices

Response: The Board’s contracts with its School Physicians for the
2020-2021 school year are enclosed. 

Your third Request dated September 15, 2021 sought the following:

All teacher and staff In all schools vaccination records

Response:  This request seeks information that would constitute personnel
records that are not required to be disclosed under OPRA . In addition,
this request is seeking records that would disclose information related to
an individual’s medical history, which is also exempt from disclosure
under OPRA.  As a result, the request is denied.

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 District 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, or by e-mail at [1][email address], or at their website at
[2]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.

Regards,

Sean Boyce, CPA

Assistant Superintendent for Business

Freehold Regional High School District

Confidentiality Notice: The information contained in this communication is
privileged and confidential and is intended for the sole use of the
intended recipient. If you are not the intended recipient of this email,
do not read, distribute or reproduce it (including any attachments). If
you have received this email in error, please immediately notify the
sender by telephone or email reply.

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. http://www.state.nj.us/grc

Dear Ms. Richmond.

The attached letter is in response to your three separate OPRA Requests
dated September 14, 2021 and three separate OPRA Requests dated September
15, 2021.  Due to the fact that the District was closed on Thursday,
September 16, 2021 in observation of the Yom Kippur Holiday, the seventh
business day by which the Board must respond to your September 14, 2021
Requests is Friday, September 24, 2021, and the deadline for your Requests
dated September 15, 2021 is September 28, 2021.  This response is being
provided to you within those timeframes.  The body of the response has
also been included below.

OPRA defines a “government record” of a public entity as “any paper,
written or printed book, document, drawing, map, plan, photograph,
microfilm, data processed or image processed document, information stored
or maintained electronically or by sound-recording or in a similar device,
or any copy thereof, that has been made, maintained or kept on file in the
course of his or its official business …”  N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1.1. 
Accordingly, the Board is required to produce only those records which it
maintains in the official course of business and which are not otherwise
exempt from production.  Pursuant to the definition of a government
record, a public entity is not required by OPRA to research information
and/or create records that do not exist in response to OPRA requests.  See
e.g., Mag Entertainment, LLC v. Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control,
375 N.J. Super. 537 (App. Div. 2005).

Your first Request dated September 14, 2021 sought the following:

Please provide me with the following

List of district physicians

Contact Information for each

Response:          Please be advised that an OPRA request is a vehicle for
accessing government records rather than for the purposes of submitting
questions and/or requests for information. As such, the Request could be
denied as improper.  However, in the spirit of OPRA, the Board’s
resolution for the appointment of the Board’s School Physicians for the
2021-2022 school year is enclosed.

Your second Request dated September 14, 2021 sought the following:

Please provide me with any and all correspondence from department of
health to the Superintendent and building principles on mask policies.

Response: Please be advised that an OPRA request is a vehicle for
accessing government records rather than for the purposes of submitting
questions and/or wholesale requests for information. Further, the GRC has
previously established that for an OPRA request seeking emails and/or
other written communications to be valid the request must contain: (1) the
content and/or subject of the e-mail or correspondence, (2) the specific
date or range of dates during which the e-mail/correspondence was
transmitted, and (3) a valid e-mail/correspondence request must identify
the sender and/or the recipient thereof.  Here the request does not
contain any date range or range of dates, and therefore does not identify
a specific government record and as such could be denied.

Notwithstanding the above, the Board does not have any documents that are
responsive to this request.  By way of further explanation, Governor
Murphy has issued Executive Orders 251 and 253, which require, among other
requirements, that masks are to be worn at all times in all public and
non-public schools in the State of New Jersey unless one of the exceptions
noted in those Orders is present.  Throughout this ongoing pandemic, the
District has consistently followed State and Local guidance as well as
specific mandates, and will continue to do so. 

Your third Request dated September 14, 2021 sought the following:

Please provide me with any and all correspondence from the NJEA to the
Superintendent and building principles regarding mask policies

Response: Please be advised that an OPRA request is a vehicle for
accessing government records rather than for the purposes of submitting
questions and/or wholesale requests for information. Further, the GRC has
previously established that for an OPRA request seeking emails and/or
other written communications to be valid the request must contain: (1) the
content and/or subject of the e-mail or correspondence, (2) the specific
date or range of dates during which the e-mail/correspondence was
transmitted, and (3) a valid e-mail/correspondence request must identify
the sender and/or the recipient thereof.  Here the request does not
contain a specific sender, rather just references the “NJEA” generally,
nor does it contain a date range or range of dates, and therefore does not
identify a specific government record and as such could be denied.

Notwithstanding the above, the Board does not have any documents that are
responsive to this request.

Your first Request dated September 15, 2021 sought the following:

Please provide me with Notes , emails and any correspondence including any
of the following school nurse , board of health and the superintendent on
the negative effects of the masks in school

Response: Please be advised that an OPRA request is a vehicle for
accessing government records rather than for the purposes of submitting
questions and/or wholesale requests for information. Further, the GRC has
previously established that for an OPRA request seeking emails and/or
other written communications to be valid the request must contain: (1) the
content and/or subject of the e-mail or correspondence, (2) the specific
date or range of dates during which the e-mail/correspondence was
transmitted, and (3) a valid e-mail/correspondence request must identify
the sender and/or the recipient thereof.  Here the request does not
contain any date range or range of dates, and therefore does not identify
a specific government record and as such could be denied.

Notwithstanding the above, the Board does not have any documents that are
responsive to this request.  By way of further explanation, Governor
Murphy has issued Executive Orders 251 and 253, which require, among other
requirements, that masks are to be worn at all times in all public and
non-public schools in the State of New Jersey unless one of the exceptions
noted in those Orders is present.  Throughout this ongoing pandemic, the
District has consistently followed State and Local guidance as well as
specific mandates, and will continue to do so.

Your second Request dated September 15, 2021 sought the following:

Any and all contracts with any and all district physicians and their
groups and / or offices

Response: The Board’s contracts with its School Physicians for the
2020-2021 school year are enclosed. 

Your third Request dated September 15, 2021 sought the following:

All teacher and staff In all schools vaccination records

Response:  This request seeks information that would constitute personnel
records that are not required to be disclosed under OPRA . In addition,
this request is seeking records that would disclose information related to
an individual’s medical history, which is also exempt from disclosure
under OPRA.  As a result, the request is denied.

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 District 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, or by e-mail at [1][email address], or at their website at
[2]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.

Regards,

Sean Boyce, CPA

Assistant Superintendent for Business

Freehold Regional High School District

Confidentiality Notice: The information contained in this communication is
privileged and confidential and is intended for the sole use of the
intended recipient. If you are not the intended recipient of this email,
do not read, distribute or reproduce it (including any attachments). If
you have received this email in error, please immediately notify the
sender by telephone or email reply.

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. http://www.state.nj.us/grc

Dear Ms. Richmond.

The attached letter is in response to your three separate OPRA Requests
dated September 14, 2021 and three separate OPRA Requests dated September
15, 2021.  Due to the fact that the District was closed on Thursday,
September 16, 2021 in observation of the Yom Kippur Holiday, the seventh
business day by which the Board must respond to your September 14, 2021
Requests is Friday, September 24, 2021, and the deadline for your Requests
dated September 15, 2021 is September 28, 2021.  This response is being
provided to you within those timeframes.  The body of the response has
also been included below.

OPRA defines a “government record” of a public entity as “any paper,
written or printed book, document, drawing, map, plan, photograph,
microfilm, data processed or image processed document, information stored
or maintained electronically or by sound-recording or in a similar device,
or any copy thereof, that has been made, maintained or kept on file in the
course of his or its official business …”  N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1.1. 
Accordingly, the Board is required to produce only those records which it
maintains in the official course of business and which are not otherwise
exempt from production.  Pursuant to the definition of a government
record, a public entity is not required by OPRA to research information
and/or create records that do not exist in response to OPRA requests.  See
e.g., Mag Entertainment, LLC v. Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control,
375 N.J. Super. 537 (App. Div. 2005).

Your first Request dated September 14, 2021 sought the following:

Please provide me with the following

List of district physicians

Contact Information for each

Response:          Please be advised that an OPRA request is a vehicle for
accessing government records rather than for the purposes of submitting
questions and/or requests for information. As such, the Request could be
denied as improper.  However, in the spirit of OPRA, the Board’s
resolution for the appointment of the Board’s School Physicians for the
2021-2022 school year is enclosed.

Your second Request dated September 14, 2021 sought the following:

Please provide me with any and all correspondence from department of
health to the Superintendent and building principles on mask policies.

Response: Please be advised that an OPRA request is a vehicle for
accessing government records rather than for the purposes of submitting
questions and/or wholesale requests for information. Further, the GRC has
previously established that for an OPRA request seeking emails and/or
other written communications to be valid the request must contain: (1) the
content and/or subject of the e-mail or correspondence, (2) the specific
date or range of dates during which the e-mail/correspondence was
transmitted, and (3) a valid e-mail/correspondence request must identify
the sender and/or the recipient thereof.  Here the request does not
contain any date range or range of dates, and therefore does not identify
a specific government record and as such could be denied.

Notwithstanding the above, the Board does not have any documents that are
responsive to this request.  By way of further explanation, Governor
Murphy has issued Executive Orders 251 and 253, which require, among other
requirements, that masks are to be worn at all times in all public and
non-public schools in the State of New Jersey unless one of the exceptions
noted in those Orders is present.  Throughout this ongoing pandemic, the
District has consistently followed State and Local guidance as well as
specific mandates, and will continue to do so. 

Your third Request dated September 14, 2021 sought the following:

Please provide me with any and all correspondence from the NJEA to the
Superintendent and building principles regarding mask policies

Response: Please be advised that an OPRA request is a vehicle for
accessing government records rather than for the purposes of submitting
questions and/or wholesale requests for information. Further, the GRC has
previously established that for an OPRA request seeking emails and/or
other written communications to be valid the request must contain: (1) the
content and/or subject of the e-mail or correspondence, (2) the specific
date or range of dates during which the e-mail/correspondence was
transmitted, and (3) a valid e-mail/correspondence request must identify
the sender and/or the recipient thereof.  Here the request does not
contain a specific sender, rather just references the “NJEA” generally,
nor does it contain a date range or range of dates, and therefore does not
identify a specific government record and as such could be denied.

Notwithstanding the above, the Board does not have any documents that are
responsive to this request.

Your first Request dated September 15, 2021 sought the following:

Please provide me with Notes , emails and any correspondence including any
of the following school nurse , board of health and the superintendent on
the negative effects of the masks in school

Response: Please be advised that an OPRA request is a vehicle for
accessing government records rather than for the purposes of submitting
questions and/or wholesale requests for information. Further, the GRC has
previously established that for an OPRA request seeking emails and/or
other written communications to be valid the request must contain: (1) the
content and/or subject of the e-mail or correspondence, (2) the specific
date or range of dates during which the e-mail/correspondence was
transmitted, and (3) a valid e-mail/correspondence request must identify
the sender and/or the recipient thereof.  Here the request does not
contain any date range or range of dates, and therefore does not identify
a specific government record and as such could be denied.

Notwithstanding the above, the Board does not have any documents that are
responsive to this request.  By way of further explanation, Governor
Murphy has issued Executive Orders 251 and 253, which require, among other
requirements, that masks are to be worn at all times in all public and
non-public schools in the State of New Jersey unless one of the exceptions
noted in those Orders is present.  Throughout this ongoing pandemic, the
District has consistently followed State and Local guidance as well as
specific mandates, and will continue to do so.

Your second Request dated September 15, 2021 sought the following:

Any and all contracts with any and all district physicians and their
groups and / or offices

Response: The Board’s contracts with its School Physicians for the
2020-2021 school year are enclosed. 

Your third Request dated September 15, 2021 sought the following:

All teacher and staff In all schools vaccination records

Response:  This request seeks information that would constitute personnel
records that are not required to be disclosed under OPRA . In addition,
this request is seeking records that would disclose information related to
an individual’s medical history, which is also exempt from disclosure
under OPRA.  As a result, the request is denied.

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 District 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, or by e-mail at [1][email address], or at their website at
[2]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.

Regards,

Sean Boyce, CPA

Assistant Superintendent for Business

Freehold Regional High School District

Confidentiality Notice: The information contained in this communication is
privileged and confidential and is intended for the sole use of the
intended recipient. If you are not the intended recipient of this email,
do not read, distribute or reproduce it (including any attachments). If
you have received this email in error, please immediately notify the
sender by telephone or email reply.

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. http://www.state.nj.us/grc

Dear Ms. Richmond.

The attached letter is in response to your three separate OPRA Requests
dated September 14, 2021 and three separate OPRA Requests dated September
15, 2021.  Due to the fact that the District was closed on Thursday,
September 16, 2021 in observation of the Yom Kippur Holiday, the seventh
business day by which the Board must respond to your September 14, 2021
Requests is Friday, September 24, 2021, and the deadline for your Requests
dated September 15, 2021 is September 28, 2021.  This response is being
provided to you within those timeframes.  The body of the response has
also been included below.

OPRA defines a “government record” of a public entity as “any paper,
written or printed book, document, drawing, map, plan, photograph,
microfilm, data processed or image processed document, information stored
or maintained electronically or by sound-recording or in a similar device,
or any copy thereof, that has been made, maintained or kept on file in the
course of his or its official business …”  N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1.1. 
Accordingly, the Board is required to produce only those records which it
maintains in the official course of business and which are not otherwise
exempt from production.  Pursuant to the definition of a government
record, a public entity is not required by OPRA to research information
and/or create records that do not exist in response to OPRA requests.  See
e.g., Mag Entertainment, LLC v. Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control,
375 N.J. Super. 537 (App. Div. 2005).

Your first Request dated September 14, 2021 sought the following:

Please provide me with the following

List of district physicians

Contact Information for each

Response:          Please be advised that an OPRA request is a vehicle for
accessing government records rather than for the purposes of submitting
questions and/or requests for information. As such, the Request could be
denied as improper.  However, in the spirit of OPRA, the Board’s
resolution for the appointment of the Board’s School Physicians for the
2021-2022 school year is enclosed.

Your second Request dated September 14, 2021 sought the following:

Please provide me with any and all correspondence from department of
health to the Superintendent and building principles on mask policies.

Response: Please be advised that an OPRA request is a vehicle for
accessing government records rather than for the purposes of submitting
questions and/or wholesale requests for information. Further, the GRC has
previously established that for an OPRA request seeking emails and/or
other written communications to be valid the request must contain: (1) the
content and/or subject of the e-mail or correspondence, (2) the specific
date or range of dates during which the e-mail/correspondence was
transmitted, and (3) a valid e-mail/correspondence request must identify
the sender and/or the recipient thereof.  Here the request does not
contain any date range or range of dates, and therefore does not identify
a specific government record and as such could be denied.

Notwithstanding the above, the Board does not have any documents that are
responsive to this request.  By way of further explanation, Governor
Murphy has issued Executive Orders 251 and 253, which require, among other
requirements, that masks are to be worn at all times in all public and
non-public schools in the State of New Jersey unless one of the exceptions
noted in those Orders is present.  Throughout this ongoing pandemic, the
District has consistently followed State and Local guidance as well as
specific mandates, and will continue to do so. 

Your third Request dated September 14, 2021 sought the following:

Please provide me with any and all correspondence from the NJEA to the
Superintendent and building principles regarding mask policies

Response: Please be advised that an OPRA request is a vehicle for
accessing government records rather than for the purposes of submitting
questions and/or wholesale requests for information. Further, the GRC has
previously established that for an OPRA request seeking emails and/or
other written communications to be valid the request must contain: (1) the
content and/or subject of the e-mail or correspondence, (2) the specific
date or range of dates during which the e-mail/correspondence was
transmitted, and (3) a valid e-mail/correspondence request must identify
the sender and/or the recipient thereof.  Here the request does not
contain a specific sender, rather just references the “NJEA” generally,
nor does it contain a date range or range of dates, and therefore does not
identify a specific government record and as such could be denied.

Notwithstanding the above, the Board does not have any documents that are
responsive to this request.

Your first Request dated September 15, 2021 sought the following:

Please provide me with Notes , emails and any correspondence including any
of the following school nurse , board of health and the superintendent on
the negative effects of the masks in school

Response: Please be advised that an OPRA request is a vehicle for
accessing government records rather than for the purposes of submitting
questions and/or wholesale requests for information. Further, the GRC has
previously established that for an OPRA request seeking emails and/or
other written communications to be valid the request must contain: (1) the
content and/or subject of the e-mail or correspondence, (2) the specific
date or range of dates during which the e-mail/correspondence was
transmitted, and (3) a valid e-mail/correspondence request must identify
the sender and/or the recipient thereof.  Here the request does not
contain any date range or range of dates, and therefore does not identify
a specific government record and as such could be denied.

Notwithstanding the above, the Board does not have any documents that are
responsive to this request.  By way of further explanation, Governor
Murphy has issued Executive Orders 251 and 253, which require, among other
requirements, that masks are to be worn at all times in all public and
non-public schools in the State of New Jersey unless one of the exceptions
noted in those Orders is present.  Throughout this ongoing pandemic, the
District has consistently followed State and Local guidance as well as
specific mandates, and will continue to do so.

Your second Request dated September 15, 2021 sought the following:

Any and all contracts with any and all district physicians and their
groups and / or offices

Response: The Board’s contracts with its School Physicians for the
2020-2021 school year are enclosed. 

Your third Request dated September 15, 2021 sought the following:

All teacher and staff In all schools vaccination records

Response:  This request seeks information that would constitute personnel
records that are not required to be disclosed under OPRA . In addition,
this request is seeking records that would disclose information related to
an individual’s medical history, which is also exempt from disclosure
under OPRA.  As a result, the request is denied.

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 District 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, or by e-mail at [1][email address], or at their website at
[2]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.

Regards,

Sean Boyce, CPA

Assistant Superintendent for Business

Freehold Regional High School District

Confidentiality Notice: The information contained in this communication is
privileged and confidential and is intended for the sole use of the
intended recipient. If you are not the intended recipient of this email,
do not read, distribute or reproduce it (including any attachments). If
you have received this email in error, please immediately notify the
sender by telephone or email reply.

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. http://www.state.nj.us/grc

Dear Ms. Richmond.

The attached letter is in response to your three separate OPRA Requests
dated September 14, 2021 and three separate OPRA Requests dated September
15, 2021.  Due to the fact that the District was closed on Thursday,
September 16, 2021 in observation of the Yom Kippur Holiday, the seventh
business day by which the Board must respond to your September 14, 2021
Requests is Friday, September 24, 2021, and the deadline for your Requests
dated September 15, 2021 is September 28, 2021.  This response is being
provided to you within those timeframes.  The body of the response has
also been included below.

OPRA defines a “government record” of a public entity as “any paper,
written or printed book, document, drawing, map, plan, photograph,
microfilm, data processed or image processed document, information stored
or maintained electronically or by sound-recording or in a similar device,
or any copy thereof, that has been made, maintained or kept on file in the
course of his or its official business …”  N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1.1. 
Accordingly, the Board is required to produce only those records which it
maintains in the official course of business and which are not otherwise
exempt from production.  Pursuant to the definition of a government
record, a public entity is not required by OPRA to research information
and/or create records that do not exist in response to OPRA requests.  See
e.g., Mag Entertainment, LLC v. Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control,
375 N.J. Super. 537 (App. Div. 2005).

Your first Request dated September 14, 2021 sought the following:

Please provide me with the following

List of district physicians

Contact Information for each

Response:          Please be advised that an OPRA request is a vehicle for
accessing government records rather than for the purposes of submitting
questions and/or requests for information. As such, the Request could be
denied as improper.  However, in the spirit of OPRA, the Board’s
resolution for the appointment of the Board’s School Physicians for the
2021-2022 school year is enclosed.

Your second Request dated September 14, 2021 sought the following:

Please provide me with any and all correspondence from department of
health to the Superintendent and building principles on mask policies.

Response: Please be advised that an OPRA request is a vehicle for
accessing government records rather than for the purposes of submitting
questions and/or wholesale requests for information. Further, the GRC has
previously established that for an OPRA request seeking emails and/or
other written communications to be valid the request must contain: (1) the
content and/or subject of the e-mail or correspondence, (2) the specific
date or range of dates during which the e-mail/correspondence was
transmitted, and (3) a valid e-mail/correspondence request must identify
the sender and/or the recipient thereof.  Here the request does not
contain any date range or range of dates, and therefore does not identify
a specific government record and as such could be denied.

Notwithstanding the above, the Board does not have any documents that are
responsive to this request.  By way of further explanation, Governor
Murphy has issued Executive Orders 251 and 253, which require, among other
requirements, that masks are to be worn at all times in all public and
non-public schools in the State of New Jersey unless one of the exceptions
noted in those Orders is present.  Throughout this ongoing pandemic, the
District has consistently followed State and Local guidance as well as
specific mandates, and will continue to do so. 

Your third Request dated September 14, 2021 sought the following:

Please provide me with any and all correspondence from the NJEA to the
Superintendent and building principles regarding mask policies

Response: Please be advised that an OPRA request is a vehicle for
accessing government records rather than for the purposes of submitting
questions and/or wholesale requests for information. Further, the GRC has
previously established that for an OPRA request seeking emails and/or
other written communications to be valid the request must contain: (1) the
content and/or subject of the e-mail or correspondence, (2) the specific
date or range of dates during which the e-mail/correspondence was
transmitted, and (3) a valid e-mail/correspondence request must identify
the sender and/or the recipient thereof.  Here the request does not
contain a specific sender, rather just references the “NJEA” generally,
nor does it contain a date range or range of dates, and therefore does not
identify a specific government record and as such could be denied.

Notwithstanding the above, the Board does not have any documents that are
responsive to this request.

Your first Request dated September 15, 2021 sought the following:

Please provide me with Notes , emails and any correspondence including any
of the following school nurse , board of health and the superintendent on
the negative effects of the masks in school

Response: Please be advised that an OPRA request is a vehicle for
accessing government records rather than for the purposes of submitting
questions and/or wholesale requests for information. Further, the GRC has
previously established that for an OPRA request seeking emails and/or
other written communications to be valid the request must contain: (1) the
content and/or subject of the e-mail or correspondence, (2) the specific
date or range of dates during which the e-mail/correspondence was
transmitted, and (3) a valid e-mail/correspondence request must identify
the sender and/or the recipient thereof.  Here the request does not
contain any date range or range of dates, and therefore does not identify
a specific government record and as such could be denied.

Notwithstanding the above, the Board does not have any documents that are
responsive to this request.  By way of further explanation, Governor
Murphy has issued Executive Orders 251 and 253, which require, among other
requirements, that masks are to be worn at all times in all public and
non-public schools in the State of New Jersey unless one of the exceptions
noted in those Orders is present.  Throughout this ongoing pandemic, the
District has consistently followed State and Local guidance as well as
specific mandates, and will continue to do so.

Your second Request dated September 15, 2021 sought the following:

Any and all contracts with any and all district physicians and their
groups and / or offices

Response: The Board’s contracts with its School Physicians for the
2020-2021 school year are enclosed. 

Your third Request dated September 15, 2021 sought the following:

All teacher and staff In all schools vaccination records

Response:  This request seeks information that would constitute personnel
records that are not required to be disclosed under OPRA . In addition,
this request is seeking records that would disclose information related to
an individual’s medical history, which is also exempt from disclosure
under OPRA.  As a result, the request is denied.

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 District 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, or by e-mail at [1][email address], or at their website at
[2]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.

Regards,

Sean Boyce, CPA

Assistant Superintendent for Business

Freehold Regional High School District

Confidentiality Notice: The information contained in this communication is
privileged and confidential and is intended for the sole use of the
intended recipient. If you are not the intended recipient of this email,
do not read, distribute or reproduce it (including any attachments). If
you have received this email in error, please immediately notify the
sender by telephone or email reply.

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. http://www.state.nj.us/grc

Dear Ms. Richmond.

The attached letter is in response to your three separate OPRA Requests
dated September 14, 2021 and three separate OPRA Requests dated September
15, 2021.  Due to the fact that the District was closed on Thursday,
September 16, 2021 in observation of the Yom Kippur Holiday, the seventh
business day by which the Board must respond to your September 14, 2021
Requests is Friday, September 24, 2021, and the deadline for your Requests
dated September 15, 2021 is September 28, 2021.  This response is being
provided to you within those timeframes.  The body of the response has
also been included below.

OPRA defines a “government record” of a public entity as “any paper,
written or printed book, document, drawing, map, plan, photograph,
microfilm, data processed or image processed document, information stored
or maintained electronically or by sound-recording or in a similar device,
or any copy thereof, that has been made, maintained or kept on file in the
course of his or its official business …”  N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1.1. 
Accordingly, the Board is required to produce only those records which it
maintains in the official course of business and which are not otherwise
exempt from production.  Pursuant to the definition of a government
record, a public entity is not required by OPRA to research information
and/or create records that do not exist in response to OPRA requests.  See
e.g., Mag Entertainment, LLC v. Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control,
375 N.J. Super. 537 (App. Div. 2005).

Your first Request dated September 14, 2021 sought the following:

Please provide me with the following

List of district physicians

Contact Information for each

Response:          Please be advised that an OPRA request is a vehicle for
accessing government records rather than for the purposes of submitting
questions and/or requests for information. As such, the Request could be
denied as improper.  However, in the spirit of OPRA, the Board’s
resolution for the appointment of the Board’s School Physicians for the
2021-2022 school year is enclosed.

Your second Request dated September 14, 2021 sought the following:

Please provide me with any and all correspondence from department of
health to the Superintendent and building principles on mask policies.

Response: Please be advised that an OPRA request is a vehicle for
accessing government records rather than for the purposes of submitting
questions and/or wholesale requests for information. Further, the GRC has
previously established that for an OPRA request seeking emails and/or
other written communications to be valid the request must contain: (1) the
content and/or subject of the e-mail or correspondence, (2) the specific
date or range of dates during which the e-mail/correspondence was
transmitted, and (3) a valid e-mail/correspondence request must identify
the sender and/or the recipient thereof.  Here the request does not
contain any date range or range of dates, and therefore does not identify
a specific government record and as such could be denied.

Notwithstanding the above, the Board does not have any documents that are
responsive to this request.  By way of further explanation, Governor
Murphy has issued Executive Orders 251 and 253, which require, among other
requirements, that masks are to be worn at all times in all public and
non-public schools in the State of New Jersey unless one of the exceptions
noted in those Orders is present.  Throughout this ongoing pandemic, the
District has consistently followed State and Local guidance as well as
specific mandates, and will continue to do so. 

Your third Request dated September 14, 2021 sought the following:

Please provide me with any and all correspondence from the NJEA to the
Superintendent and building principles regarding mask policies

Response: Please be advised that an OPRA request is a vehicle for
accessing government records rather than for the purposes of submitting
questions and/or wholesale requests for information. Further, the GRC has
previously established that for an OPRA request seeking emails and/or
other written communications to be valid the request must contain: (1) the
content and/or subject of the e-mail or correspondence, (2) the specific
date or range of dates during which the e-mail/correspondence was
transmitted, and (3) a valid e-mail/correspondence request must identify
the sender and/or the recipient thereof.  Here the request does not
contain a specific sender, rather just references the “NJEA” generally,
nor does it contain a date range or range of dates, and therefore does not
identify a specific government record and as such could be denied.

Notwithstanding the above, the Board does not have any documents that are
responsive to this request.

Your first Request dated September 15, 2021 sought the following:

Please provide me with Notes , emails and any correspondence including any
of the following school nurse , board of health and the superintendent on
the negative effects of the masks in school

Response: Please be advised that an OPRA request is a vehicle for
accessing government records rather than for the purposes of submitting
questions and/or wholesale requests for information. Further, the GRC has
previously established that for an OPRA request seeking emails and/or
other written communications to be valid the request must contain: (1) the
content and/or subject of the e-mail or correspondence, (2) the specific
date or range of dates during which the e-mail/correspondence was
transmitted, and (3) a valid e-mail/correspondence request must identify
the sender and/or the recipient thereof.  Here the request does not
contain any date range or range of dates, and therefore does not identify
a specific government record and as such could be denied.

Notwithstanding the above, the Board does not have any documents that are
responsive to this request.  By way of further explanation, Governor
Murphy has issued Executive Orders 251 and 253, which require, among other
requirements, that masks are to be worn at all times in all public and
non-public schools in the State of New Jersey unless one of the exceptions
noted in those Orders is present.  Throughout this ongoing pandemic, the
District has consistently followed State and Local guidance as well as
specific mandates, and will continue to do so.

Your second Request dated September 15, 2021 sought the following:

Any and all contracts with any and all district physicians and their
groups and / or offices

Response: The Board’s contracts with its School Physicians for the
2020-2021 school year are enclosed. 

Your third Request dated September 15, 2021 sought the following:

All teacher and staff In all schools vaccination records

Response:  This request seeks information that would constitute personnel
records that are not required to be disclosed under OPRA . In addition,
this request is seeking records that would disclose information related to
an individual’s medical history, which is also exempt from disclosure
under OPRA.  As a result, the request is denied.

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 District 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, or by e-mail at [1][email address], or at their website at
[2]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.

Regards,

Sean Boyce, CPA

Assistant Superintendent for Business

Freehold Regional High School District

Confidentiality Notice: The information contained in this communication is
privileged and confidential and is intended for the sole use of the
intended recipient. If you are not the intended recipient of this email,
do not read, distribute or reproduce it (including any attachments). If
you have received this email in error, please immediately notify the
sender by telephone or email reply.

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. http://www.state.nj.us/grc