9330 9330Bylaws of the Board
Board/School District Records
Any recorded data or information relating to the conduct of the public's business prepared, owned, used, received or retained by the Board of Education or the school district, whether handwritten, typed, tape recorded, printed, photostated, photographed, or recorded by any other method is by definition a "public record" and access thereto during normal hours of business shall be granted to any citizen. The Board recognizes the need for its records to be stored as a blend of printed, bound and electronically recorded (i.e., audiotapes, videotapes, micro-fiche, computer disk) material. All such records shall be maintained at the office of the Superintendent of Schools, who shall be the custodian of all public records of the district.
Not included in the category of public records to which the privilege of access is given are the following:
1. Preliminary drafts or notes provided the custodian or the Board of Education has determined that the public interest in withholding such documents clearly outweighs the public interest in disclosure.
2. Personnel or medical files and similar files, the disclosure of which would constitute an invasion of personal privacy.
3. Records pertaining to strategy and negotiations with respect to pending claims and litigation to which the district is a party until such litigation or claim has been adjudicated or otherwise settled.
4. Trade secrets.
5. Test questions, scoring keys and other examination data used to administer a licensing examination, examination for employment or academic examinations.
6. The contents of real estate appraisals, engineering or feasibility estimates and evaluation made for or by the district relative to the acquisition of property or to prospective public supply and construction contracts, until such time as all of the property has been acquired or all proceedings or transactions have been terminated (except that the law of public domain is not affected by this provision).
7. Records, reports and statements of strategy or negotiations with respect to collective bargaining.
8. Records, tax returns, reports and statements exempted by federal law or state statutes or communications privileged by the attorney client relationship.
9. Names or addresses of students enrolled in the public schools without the consent of each student whose name or address is to be disclosed who is eighteen or older and a parent or guardian of such minor student.
10. Records including engineering and architectural drawings; security systems' operational specifications (except a general description, cost and quality of the system); training manuals that describe security procedures, emergency plans or security equipment; internal security audits; and logs and other documents containing information on security personnel movement or assignments if reasonable grounds exist to believe their release would pose a safety risk, including harm to anyone, a facility or equipment.
11. Security manuals, emergency plans, emergency recovery or response plans and staff meeting minutes or records or portions of them that contain or reveal security information or otherwise exempt records.
12. Educational records not subject to disclosure under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), 20 U.S.C. 123g; as amended.
13. Records of standards, procedures, processes, software and codes not otherwise available to the public, the disclosure of which would compromise the security or integrity of an information technology system.
Availability of Records
Any person shall receive promptly on request, a plain or certified copy of any public record except those which access is not permitted under law, at a cost not to exceed fifty cents per page. If any copy requested required a printout or transcription, or if any person applies for a printout or transcription of a public record, the fee shall not exceed the cost to the school district. The district will require prepayment of the fee if the fee is estimated to be two dollars or more. There will be no sales tax for this service. There will be no charge if the person requesting the record is an indigent, the record requested is exempt from disclosure, or if, in the judgment of the custodian of records, compliance with the request benefits the general welfare.
An additional charge of one dollar for the first page and fifty cents for each additional page may be made for certification of any records or of any fact within the record.
An individual may use a "hand-held" scanner* to copy a public record. The Board establishes a fee structure not to exceed twenty dollars ($20) for an individual to pay each time the individual copies records at the Board offices with a hand held scanner.
*A hand-held scanner is defined by C.G.S. 1-212(g) as a battery-operated electronic scanning device the use of which (1) leaves no mark or impression on the public record, and (2) does not unreasonably interfere with the operation of the public agency.
The Board considers the use of a "smartphone" as analogous to a hand-held scanner and therefore, subject to a twenty dollar ($20) flat fee.
(Alternate position): The Board considers cell phones with camera capability not a hand-held scanner. Such phone cannot be used to take pictures of any records. The school district will make copies of the requested permissible records at the rate of fifty cents per page.
The Superintendent, on behalf of the Board of Education, shall notify an employee in writing when a request is made for disclosure of the employee's personnel, medical or similar files, if the Superintendent reasonably believes disclosure would invade the employee's privacy.
Designation of Records Access Officer (optional)
1. The Superintendent of Schools is designated as Records Access Officer of the School District, who shall have the duty of coordinating the School District's response to public requests for access to records, in accordance with Connecticut Freedom of Information Commission rules and regulations.
2. The Records Access Officer is responsible for assuring that District personnel:
a. Assist the requester in identifying requested records, if necessary.
b. Upon locating the records, take one of the following actions:
1. Make records promptly available for inspection; or
2. Deny access to the records in whole or in part and explain the reasons therefore.
c. Upon the request for copies of records:
1. Make a copy available upon payment or offer to pay established fees.
d. Upon request, certify that a transcript is a true copy of the records.
e. Upon failure to locate records, certify that:
1. The District is not the legal custodian for such records.
2. The records of which the District is a custodian cannot be found after diligent search.
Requests for Public Access to Records
1. Requests for inspection of records shall be made at least four (4) working days in advance to the Records Access Officer.
2. The Records Access Officer shall respond promptly to a request for records. Except under extraordinary circumstances, the District shall make response no more than four (4) working days after receipt of the request.
3. A request shall reasonably describe the record or records sought. Whenever possible, a person requesting records shall supply information regarding dates, file designations or other information that may help to describe the records sought.
4. If the District does not provide or deny access to the record sought within four (4) business days of receipt of a request, the District shall furnish a written acknowledgment of receipt of the request and statement of the approximate date when the request will be granted or denied. If access to records is neither granted nor denied within ten business days after the date of acknowledgment of receipt of a request, the request may be construed as a denial of access that may be appealed.
Denial of Access to Records (optional)
1. If the District fails to respond to a request within four (4) business days of receipt of a request, such failure shall be deemed a denial of access by the District.
2. Any person denied access to records may appeal to the State Freedom of Information Commission identifying:
a. The date and location of a request for records;
b. The records that were denied; and
c. The name and return address of the appellant.
Legal Reference: Connecticut General Statutes
1 15 Application for copies of public records.
1-200 Definitions.
1 210 to 1-213 Access to public records. (as amended by PA 02-113)
1-211 Access to computer stored records.
1-212(g) Copies and scanning of public records
1-214 Public contracts as part of public records.
1 225 to 1 240 Meetings of public agencies.
Paulsen v. Superintendent of Schools, Bethel Public Schools, #FIC 2015-663 (June 8, 2016)
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure - 2006 Amendments
Bylaw adopted by the Board: