Various requests for public records from your school district
Dear Red Bank Public Schools,
In accordance with the New Jersey open public records Act, we hereby request for response to the following request hold
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.
4) 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
Yours faithfully,
Michael Gottesman, Individually and as Founder of the
New Jersey Public Education Coalition
Hello Michael,
We have received your request for information. We are requesting
additional time until August 31, 2023 to review your request and response
accordingly.
Thank you,
Anthony
Anthony Sciarrillo
School Business Administrator
Dream BIG...We'll Help You Get There!
76 Branch Ave | Red Bank, NJ 07701
732-758-1500, x1508 | 732-758-0140
[1]rbb.k12.nj.us | [2]@DreamBigRB
Hi Michael,
As a follow-up to my email sent on August 15, 2023, see below and attached
for our responses to your request for documents from the Red Bank Borough
Board of Education, pursuant to the Open Public Records Act (“OPRA”) dated
August 5, 2023 and received via email on August 7, 2023.
Please note, OPRA allows custodians to seek extensions of time within
which to respond, pursuant to N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5i. Specifically, OPRA
states that, “the requestor shall be advised when the record can be made
available. If the record is not made available by that time, access shall
be deemed denied.” In regards to your request, we requested such an
extension until August 31, 2023.
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; - Response – There are approximately a
total of 1,615 students enrolled in all public and charter schools in
the District for the 2022-23 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. -
Response - The District does not maintain a document indicating a
total number of families who exercised their opt-out rights as
indicated in the request. As such, there are no records responsive to
this request. Additionally, the total number of such opt-out(s) for
the 2022-2023 school year is less than 10, so providing the exact
number may identify individual students and cannot be provided
pursuant to OPRA.
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. -
Response - The District does not have its own form for parent opt-out
or opt-in or State curriculum standards.
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. - Response - Enclosed
please find a copy of the meeting invitation to learn about the
updated curriculum. Additionally, enclosed is a copy of the October
2022 letter sent to parents advising of the option to excuse
child(ren) from instruction in health, family life education or sex
education. Additional information and documents related to the
District’s health curriculum can be found at [1]Health Curriculum.
5. [Incorrectly labeled as the second #4] 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. - Response - This request is overly broad
in that it does not identify with reasonable clarity the specific
records sought. Accordingly, this request is invalid pursuant to OPRA
and is denied as overbroad. Notwithstanding the above, information and
documents related to the District’s health curriculum can be found
at [2]Health Curriculum.
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. - Response – Copies of the Board
policies and regulations can be found at [3]Board Policies.
7. Copies of any book removal or review requests made by residents of
your school district since November 1, 2022 to present. - Response –
There are no records responsive to this request.
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. - Response – Similar to #5 above,
this request is overly broad. Notwithstanding the denial, please be
advised there are no records responsive to this request.
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. - Response - This request is overly broad in
that this is a request for all documents regarding a subject in lieu
of a request for identifiable records, as discussed in response to #5
above. Board policies and regulations can be found at [4]Adoption of
Textbooks.
10. Copies of all legal bills from the Board Attorney or from any outside
council from January 1, 2023 to present - Response – Enclosed please
find copies of legal bills, which have been redacted to protect
confidential personnel information pursuant to N.J.S.A. 47:1A-10
and N.J.S.A. 10:4-12(b)(8).
As the documents identified above are being provided to you in electronic
format only, there is no charge associated with your request. The
information and the enclosed documents constitute our District's full and
complete response to your OPRA request and therefore, your OPRA request is
closed.
Thank you,
Anthony
--
Anthony Sciarrillo
School Business Administrator
Dream BIG...We'll Help You Get There!
76 Branch Ave | Red Bank, NJ 07701
732-758-1500, x1508 | 732-758-0140
[5]rbb.k12.nj.us | [6]@DreamBigRB
[7]Red Bank Borough Public Schools logo