My duties as Interim Superintendent of Schools in Linden ended June 30,
2023. Mrs. Atiya Perkins is the new Superintendent in Linden.  She can be
reached at [email address]

══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

NOTICE: This email message, including any attachments, is for the sole use
and the intended recipient(s) regarding the business of the Linden Public
School District, and may contain confidential and privileged information
protected by federal and state law. Any unauthorized review, use,
disclosure, or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended
recipient, please contact the sender by reply email and destroy all copies
of the original message.

══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

Michael Gottesman

            Re:  Open Public Records Act Request

Dear Mr. Gottesman:

The Linden Public Schools (“District”) records custodian received your
Open Public Records Act (“OPRA”) request on August 7, 2022. The seven
business day deadline to respond to your request is August 16, 2023. As
such, the District is timely responding to your request in accordance with
New Jersey law.

Your OPRA request seeks the following records:

1)      Please provide documents indicating the total number of students
enrolled in all public schools and charter schools in your District for
the 2022-2023 school year;

2)      Please provide documents indicating the total number of students
whose parents have availed themselves of the opt-out provisions of
N.J.S.A.18A:35-4.7 and opted their child out of all or a portion of the
2020 NJSLS-CHPE mandate or curriculum promulgated in accordance thereto
for the 2022-2023 school year. Please provide documents indicating the
number of opt-outs by individual grade levels.

3)      Please provide a copy of the document(s) used by the district by
which parents can opt-out or opt-in their children from all or a portion
of the curriculum mandated by the 2020 NJSLS-CHPE in your district.

4)      Please provide documents showing how you implemented the “parent
opt-out” for the 2020 NJSLS-CHPE and Health & Physical Education
curriculum and a copy of the document by which parents can opt-out their
children from all or a portion of the curriculum mandated by the 2020
NJSLS-CHPE in your district. Including but not limited to forms, flyers,
emails to parents and/or a website.

5)      Please provide documents showing how the 2020 NJSLS-CHPE mandate
was implemented in your district, for example: a) in the classroom; b) at
home by parents; c) as a homework assignment; d) in an assembly; e) as a
webinar; f) being taught on the last day of school; g) any methods but
with elements removed; h) not at all.

6)      Copies of the BOE policies and regulations regarding the
composition of your “Book Review Committee,” as well as policies
controlling book reviews or book removal requests.

7)      Copies of any book removal or review requests made by residents of
your school district since November 1, 2022 to present.

8)      If any books have been removed from curriculum or from public
school libraries as a result of a demand for removal or by the Board
action in accordance with your book removal policy, copies of all
documents relating to the review or removal.

9)      Any documents, policies or regulations relating to the review of
current textbooks or the review of new textbooks or textbooks being
considered for purchase.

10)  Copies of all legal bills from the Board Attorney or from any outside
council from January 1, 2023 to present

OPRA allows the records custodian to seek extensions of time pursuant to
N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5i. In light of the voluminous nature of your request, the
District requires an additional 30 days (until September 21, 2023) to
compile, review, and produce the potentially responsive records in
accordance with New Jersey law. 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).

Thank you for your anticipated cooperation.

Very truly yours,

John Serapiglia

Business Administrator/Board Secretary

══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

NOTICE: This email message, including any attachments, is for the sole use
and the intended recipient(s) regarding the business of the Linden Public
School District, and may contain confidential and privileged information
protected by federal and state law. Any unauthorized review, use,
disclosure, or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended
recipient, please contact the sender by reply email and destroy all copies
of the original message.

══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

Good evening,
See attached extension request letter.
Take care,
Mrs. Perkins

Atiya Y. Perkins

Superintendent of Schools

908-486-2800 

Fax: 908-587-9604 

[1]https://lindenps.webex.com/meet/aperkins

══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

NOTICE: This email message, including any attachments, is for the sole use
and the intended recipient(s) regarding the business of the Linden Public
School District, and may contain confidential and privileged information
protected by federal and state law. Any unauthorized review, use,
disclosure, or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended
recipient, please contact the sender by reply email and destroy all copies
of the original message.

══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

References

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Good morning,
Please see attached.
Take care,
Mrs. Perkins

Atiya Y. Perkins

Superintendent of Schools

908-486-2800 

Fax: 908-587-9604 

[1]https://lindenps.webex.com/meet/aperkins

══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

From: Atiya Y. Perkins <[email address]>
Sent: Thursday, August 24, 2023 10:03 AM
To: Joseph Garcia <[email address]>
Subject: Re: [EXTERNAL] Opra Request Extension
 
Hi,
I updated the letter. Should I also send it to the recipients below?
Atiya

Atiya Y. Perkins

Superintendent of Schools

908-486-2800 

Fax: 908-587-9604 

[2]https://lindenps.webex.com/meet/aperkins

══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

From: Joseph Garcia <[email address]>
Sent: Wednesday, August 23, 2023 10:00 AM
To: Bradley Tishman <[email address]>; Matthew Roberts
<[email address]>; Atiya Y. Perkins <[email address]>;
Christina M. Sarras <[email address]>; John A. Serapiglia
<[email address]>
Subject: Fwd: [EXTERNAL] Opra Request Extension
 
Here you go. 

Sent from my iPhone
Begin forwarded message:

From: "Atiya Y. Perkins" <[email address]>
Date: August 22, 2023 at 7:19:18 PM EDT
To: [OPRA #49637 email]
Cc: Joseph Garcia <[email address]>, "John A. Serapiglia"
<[email address]>
Subject: [EXTERNAL] Opra Request Extension


Good evening,
See attached extension request letter.
Take care,
Mrs. Perkins

Atiya Y. Perkins

Superintendent of Schools

908-486-2800 

Fax: 908-587-9604 

[3]https://lindenps.webex.com/meet/aperkins

══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

NOTICE: This email message, including any attachments, is for the sole
use and the intended recipient(s) regarding the business of the Linden
Public School District, and may contain confidential and privileged
information protected by federal and state law. Any unauthorized review,
use, disclosure, or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the
intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply email and destroy
all copies of the original message.

══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

NOTICE: This email message, including any attachments, is for the sole use
and the intended recipient(s) regarding the business of the Linden Public
School District, and may contain confidential and privileged information
protected by federal and state law. Any unauthorized review, use,
disclosure, or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended
recipient, please contact the sender by reply email and destroy all copies
of the original message.

══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

References

Visible links
1. https://lindenps.webex.com/meet/aperkins
2. https://lindenps.webex.com/meet/aperkins
3. https://url.emailprotection.link/?bly65O...

Attached please find our response to the OPRA request:

VIA E-MAIL [[OPRA #49637 email]]

Michael Gottesman

            Re:  Open Public Records Act Request

Dear Mr. Gottesman:

The Linden Public Schools (“District”) records custodian received your
Open Public Records Act (“OPRA”) request on August 7, 2023. On August 22,
2023, the District obtained an extension of time to respond to your OPRA
request until September 11, 2023.  As such, the District is timely
responding to your request in accordance with New Jersey law.

Your OPRA request seeks the following records:

1)      Please provide documents indicating the total number of students
enrolled in all public schools and charter schools in your District for
the 2022-2023 school year;

2)      Please provide documents indicating the total number of students
whose parents have availed themselves of the opt-out provisions of
N.J.S.A.18A:35-4.7 and opted their child out of all or a portion of the
2020 NJSLS-CHPE mandate or curriculum promulgated in accordance thereto
for the 2022-2023 school year. Please provide documents indicating the
number of opt-outs by individual grade levels.

3)      Please provide a copy of the document(s) used by the district by
which parents can opt-out or opt-in their children from all or a portion
of the curriculum mandated by the 2020 NJSLS-CHPE in your district.

4)      Please provide documents showing how you implemented the “parent
opt-out” for the 2020 NJSLS-CHPE and Health & Physical Education
curriculum and a copy of the document by which parents can opt-out their
children from all or a portion of the curriculum mandated by the 2020
NJSLS-CHPE in your district. Including but not limited to forms, flyers,
emails to parents and/or a website.

5)      Please provide documents showing how the 2020 NJSLS-CHPE mandate
was implemented in your district, for example: a) in the classroom; b) at
home by parents; c) as a homework assignment; d) in an assembly; e) as a
webinar; f) being taught on the last day of school; g) any methods but
with elements removed; h) not at all.

6)      Copies of the BOE policies and regulations regarding the
composition of your “Book Review Committee,” as well as policies
controlling book reviews or book removal requests.

7)      Copies of any book removal or review requests made by residents of
your school district since November 1, 2022 to present.

8)      If any books have been removed from curriculum or from public
school libraries as a result of a demand for removal or by the Board
action in accordance with your book removal policy, copies of all
documents relating to the review or removal.

9)      Any documents, policies or regulations relating to the review of
current textbooks or the review of new textbooks or textbooks being
considered for purchase.

10)  Copies of all legal bills from the Board Attorney or from any outside
council from January 1, 2023 to present

With respect to item 1, enclosed please find a record that the District
identified as potentially responsive.

With respect to items 2 and 3, the District conducted a good-faith search
and determined that it is not in possession of any potentially responsive
records.

With respect to item 4, please be advised that your request is overly
broad, as it fails to identify with reasonable clarity any particular
records sought. OPRA operates to make identifiable government records
“readily accessible for inspection, copying, or examination.” N.J.S.A.
47:1A-1. New Jersey courts have consistently held that OPRA does not
countenance open-ended searches of an agency’s files. MAG Entm’t, LLC v.
Div. of ABC, 375 N.J. Super. 534, 549 (App. Div. 2005); New Jersey
Builders Ass’n v. New Jersey Council on Affordable Housing, 390 N.J.
Super. 166 (App. Div.), cert. denied, 190 N.J. 394 (2007). Consequently, a
proper request under OPRA “must identify with reasonable clarity those
documents that are desired, and a party cannot satisfy this requirement by
simply requesting all of an agency’s documents.” Seee.g., Spectraserv,
Inc. v. Middlesex Cty. Utilities Auth., 416 N.J. Super. 565, 576 (App.
Div. 2010); Bent v. Twp. of Stafford Police Dep’t, 381 N.J. Super. 30, 37
(App. Div. 2005). OPRA requests may not be a broad generic description of
documents that require the custodian to search the agency’s files and
“analyze, compile, and collate” the requested information. Id.; see also
Lagerkvist v. Office of Governor of State, 443 N.J. Super. 230, 237 (App.
Div. 2015) (holding that OPRA does not convert a custodian into a
researcher, which would have been the effect of the request). Here, your
request is clearly deficient as it purportedly seeks all documents showing
how the District implemented the “parent opt-out,” and purports to require
the District’s records custodian to conduct research in order to determine
which documents may potentially be relevant to your request. SeeParreott
v. Asbury Park School District, GRC Complaint Nos. 2016-20 & 2016-39
(Sept. 2017) (holding that the portion of the request seeking “all
relevant documents” was invalid because it sought a class of various
records and would have required the records custodian to conduct research
in order to locate responsive records); see also Burke v. Ocean Cty., 2013
WL 6169154 (App. Div. 2013) (holding that an OPRA request is not the
equivalent of law suit discovery). Accordingly, item 4 of your request is
invalid as it fails to comport with OPRA’s specificity requirements.

With respect to item 5, please note that your request is also overly broad
as it fails to identify with reasonable clarity any particular records
sought. Your request is clearly deficient as it purportedly seeks all
documents showing how the 2020 NJSLS-CHPE mandate was implemented, and
purports to require the District’s records custodian to conduct research
with respect to same. In light of the invalidity of your request, the
District is unable to search for and identify any potentially responsive
records.

With respect to item 6 and the portion of item 9 requesting policies and
regulations, enclosed please find four pages of records that the District
identified as potentially responsive.

With respect to item 7, the District conducted a good-faith search and
determined that it is not in possession of any potentially responsive
records.

With respect to item 8, please note that your request is also overly broad
as it fails to identify with reasonable clarity any particular records
sought. Your request is clearly deficient as it purportedly seeks all
documents relating to the review or removal of books, and purports to
require the District’s records custodian to conduct research with respect
to same. In light of the invalidity of your request, the District is
unable to search for and identify any potentially responsive records.

With respect to the portion of item 9 requesting “documents” generally,
your request is similarly overly broad, as it fails to identify with
reasonable clarity any particular records sought. Your request is clearly
deficient as it purportedly seeks any documents relating to the review of
textbooks, and purports to require the District’s records custodian to
conduct research with respect to same. In light of the invalidity of your
request, the District is unable to search for and identify any potentially
responsive records.

With respect to item 10, enclosed please find 87 pages of records which
the District has identified as potentially responsive. Please be advised
that the District has redacted these invoices to remove information
protected by attorney-client privilege and attorney work product.   OPRA
specifically provides that certain records are deemed to be confidential,
and thus are not encompassed within the definition of a “government
record” under OPRA.  This includes any record within the attorney-client
privilege.  SeeN.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.”  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. 

Please also note that the enclosed invoices contain personal identifying
information of students. N.J.S.A. 47:1A-9(b) allows exemptions from
disclosure for any grant of confidentiality established or recognized by
the Constitution of this State, statute, court rule or judicial case law,
to apply to OPRA. The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (“FERPA”),
20 U.S.C. 1232(g) and its supplemental regulations codified under 34
C.F.R. 99.30, precludes schools from disclosing student names and personal
identifying information without obtaining consent. See alsoN.J.A.C.
6A:32-7.1 to -7.8. Accordingly, the invoices have also been redacted to
remove identifiable student information.

            These invoices have also been redacted to remove references to
District employees, which constitute confidential “personnel records”
pursuant to N.J.S.A. 47:1A-10 that are not encompassed within any of the
statutory exceptions that may otherwise allow for public access under
particular circumstances.

            Furthermore, N.J.S.A. 47:1A-10 exempts from the definition of
a government record any “records relating to any grievance filed by or
against an individual.” As such, the invoices have been redacted to remove
information pertaining to grievances.

Lastly, N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1.1 exempts information generated by or on behalf
of public employers in connection with collective negotiations, including
documents or statements of strategy or negotiating position. See Paff v.
Gloucester City (Camden), GRC Complaint No. 2009-102 (June 2011).
Therefore, the invoices have also been redacted to remove information
pertaining to collective negotiations.

Your OPRA request is now deemed answered and closed. Thank you for your
attention to this matter.

Very truly yours,

John Serapiglia

Business Administrator/Board Secretary

Enclosures

══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

From: Atiya Y. Perkins <[email address]>
Sent: Tuesday, August 22, 2023 7:19 PM
To: [OPRA #49637 email]
<[OPRA #49637 email]>
Cc: [email address] <[email address]>; John A. Serapiglia
<[email address]>
Subject: Opra Request Extension
 
Good evening,
See attached extension request letter.
Take care,
Mrs. Perkins

Atiya Y. Perkins

Superintendent of Schools

908-486-2800 

Fax: 908-587-9604 

[1]https://lindenps.webex.com/meet/aperkins

══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

NOTICE: This email message, including any attachments, is for the sole use
and the intended recipient(s) regarding the business of the Linden Public
School District, and may contain confidential and privileged information
protected by federal and state law. Any unauthorized review, use,
disclosure, or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended
recipient, please contact the sender by reply email and destroy all copies
of the original message.

══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

References

Visible links
1. https://lindenps.webex.com/meet/aperkins