Superintendent Weekly Updates to the School Board (in any form ex. media, email, etc)
Dear Pinelands Regional 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. Please acknowledge receipt of this message.
Records requested: Superintendent Weekly Updates to the Pinelands Board of Education:
The superintendent has mentioned these frequently in her board meetings. I am well aware that most of these are probably email. I am requesting the emails to be forwarded to me. I am requesting them from 7/1/2020 through present day. Some of them most likely include videos because the superintendent communicates frequently to parents this way. Please make sure these are included. Again, I am only requesting emails to be forwarded to me. This requires no extra charge or training of anyone on computer programs. Thanks for your time
Yours faithfully,
Joanna Bartlett
Mrs. Bartlett,
The Pinelands Board of Education and official Records Custodian, Nick
Brown received your OPRA request on September 15, 2020. On September 24,
2020, you were advised of the need for an extension of your September 24,
2020 request, until October 23, 2020.
Your OPRA request sought access to the following:
“All weekly superintendent updates to the school board in any and all
forms including emails and media. Please send me these updates from
01/01/2020 thru the most current update. “
On October 26, 2020, I received another almost identical OPRA request from
you, wherein you stated:
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: Superintendent Weekly Updates to the Pinelands Board of
Education:
The superintendent has mentioned these frequently in her board meetings.
I am well aware that most of these are probably email. I am requesting
the emails to be forwarded to me. I am requesting them from 7/1/2020
through present day. Some of them most likely include videos because the
superintendent communicates frequently to parents this way. Please make
sure these are included. Again, I am only requesting emails to be
forwarded to me. This requires no extra charge or training of anyone on
computer programs. Thanks for your time
As I previously informed you on October 23, 2020, OPRA allows custodians
to seek extensions of time pursuant to N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5.i. Specifically,
OPRA states that, “the requestor shall be advised by the custodian when
the record can be made available. If the record is not made available by
that time, access shall be deemed denied.” Moreover, in the midst of the
COVID-19 crisis, the State amended OPRA to include the following
provision:
During a period declared pursuant to the laws of this State as a state of
emergency, public health emergency, or state of local disaster
emergency, the deadlines by which to respond to a request for, or grant or
deny access to, a government record under paragraph (1) of this subsection
or subsection e. of this section shall not apply, provided, however, that
the custodian of a government record shall make a reasonable effort, as
the circumstances permit, to respond to a request for access to a
government record within seven business days or as soon as possible
thereafter. N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5(i)(2)
The Government Records Council also released a special statement regarding
the above amendment. The statement specifically addresses a custodian’s
“reasonable effort” to respond to a records request as follows:
In furtherance of a custodian’s “reasonable effort,” the GRC notes that an
available response option is to take extensions of time as
needed. Specifically, OPRA requires a custodian to respond in writing
within the statutorily mandated time frame stating that an extension until
a date certain is necessary….This is notwithstanding whether a requestor
objects to an extension of time.
As per the above, the custodian of records is entitled to an extension
after notifying you of the need within the statutorily mandated time frame
and providing you with an anticipated deadline date upon which the records
will be provided. While we have taken the time during the first extension
to successfully search and retrieve the documents, videos, and other
information potentially responsive to your request, your request requires
an additional extension of time until December 4, 2020 to complete the
processing of your request. The District is working with our IT
professionals, who are also acting in a support role for virtual and
hybrid learning on a daily basis, to obtain software which will allow us
to appropriately redact the videos that we believe are responsive to your
request. We also anticipate the need for a staff member with confidential
clearance to be trained in using said software so that they can
appropriately redact the same, along with taking the time to redact any
other documents which may be responsive to your request. This is going to
cause an additional delay due to the additional strains placed on our
clerical staff as a result of COVID-19.
Contrary to your assertion that e-mails and videos can simply be provided
or forwarded, said e-mails and videos contain confidential information,
not subject to disclosure pursuant to OPRA. As such, each video and e-mail
must be reviewed for said confidential information , and redacted
appropriately. This task requires training in both what is and is not
subject to OPRA, as well as, how to utilize the redaction software.
Additionally, making said redactions is a time consuming process.
To that end, as previously indicated, please be advised that the District
may notify you of a special service charge for the time necessary to make
any required redactions and any possible format reproduction. OPRA allows
a custodian to apply a special service charge “whenever the nature,
format, manner of collation, or volume of a government record is such that
the record cannot be reproduced by ordinary document copying equipment in
ordinary business size or involves an extraordinary expenditure of time
and effort to accommodate the request...” N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5(c). Should the
records custodian determine that any request falls within the confines of
this provision, the records custodian is entitled to apply a special
service charge in addition to the actual cost of duplicating the record.
We will notify you of the anticipated service charge as soon as we
determine the amount of time necessary to perform the redactions.
Thank you for your patience and understanding during this difficult time.
Sincerely,
Nick Brown
SBA/BS
Pinelands Regional School District
December 4, 2020
Joanna Bartlett
Via email: [1][OPRA #18132 email]
Mrs. Bartlett,
I am writing regarding your pending OPRA request. As you are aware, you
requested a voluminous amount of records. On November 11, 2020 we informed
you that we needed an extension due to the voluminous nature of your
request. At that time we also informed you that we may need to assess a
special service charge due to the voluminous nature of your request. We
have located the documents you are requesting, which equal more than 500
pages. As most of this information contains confidential information,
only I can review and redact this information. This is an immense amount
of work that requires reviewing the documents for confidentiality and
redacting the documents.
OPRA and the New Jersey Government Records Council provides that whenever
a records custodian asserts that fulfilling an OPRA records request
requires an “extraordinary” expenditure of time and effort, a special
service charge may be warranted pursuant to N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5.c. In this
regard, OPRA provides: “Whenever the nature, format, manner of collation,
or volume of a government record embodied in the form of printed matter to
be inspected, examined, or copied pursuant to this section is such that
the record cannot be reproduced by ordinary document copying equipment in
ordinary business size or involves an extraordinary expenditure of time
and effort to accommodate the request, the public agency may charge, in
addition to the actual cost of duplicating the record, a special service
charge that shall be reasonable and shall be based upon the actual direct
cost of providing the copy or copies ...” (Emphasis added.)
N.J.S.A.47:1A-5.c.
Pursuant to N.J.S.A. 47:1A:5(b) and N.J.S.A. 47:1A:5(c) and due to the
extraordinary amount of time and effort for this task including the
estimated cost and time redacting the documents equates to a likely
minimum charge of $365.28. This charge equals an hourly rate of for
myself times four (4) hours for me to review the documents and redact for
confidentiality. (This rate is equal the hourly rate of the lowest paid
person who is qualified to view and redact for confidentiality, which due
to the confidential nature of this information, is me).. See N.J.S.A.
47:1A-5(c). Therefore, a deposit in the amount of $182.64 is required to
proceed with your request. Upon receipt of same we will begin compiling
the documents you requested.
In addition, if you have specific questions about your request or if you
would like to meet and/or discuss this correspondence, please call
609-296-1719 x 1013 to schedule a meeting.
Sincerely,
Nicholas K Brown
Nicholas K. Brown
Board Business Administrator and
Custodian of Records
Pinelands Regional Board of
Education