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8310 - PUBLIC RECORDS
The Governing Board is responsible
for maintaining the public records of this Educational Service Center and to make such records available for inspection and reproduction. The Board will utilize the following procedures regarding the availability of public records. "Public records" are defined as any document, device, or item, regardless of physical form or characteristic, including an electronic record created or received by or coming under the jurisdiction of the Board or its employees, which serves to document the organization, functions, policies, decisions, procedures, operations, or other activities of the Center. "Electronic record" is defined as a record created, generated, sent, communicated, received, or stored by electronic means. "Public records" do not include medical records, documents containing genetic information, trial preparation records, confidential law enforcement investigatory records, records the release of which is prohibited by State or Federal law, and any other exceptions set forth in R.C. 149.43 or other provisions of the Ohio Revised Code. Confidential law enforcement investigatory records, medical records, and trial preparation records are as defined in R.C. 149.43. No public records, including, but not limited to personnel records, personnel files, or staff directories or student records shall include the actual/confidential addresses of students, parents, or employees who are participating in the Safe at Home/Address Confidentiality Program administered by the Secretary of State. Such public records and student records shall only contain the address designated by the Secretary of State to serve as the student’s, parent’s or employee’s address. Further, to the extent permitted by case law, the Board shall refrain from disclosing an employee's address (telephone number and/or personal e-mail address) when releasing personnel records.The Center’s
public records shall be organized and maintained so that they are readily available for inspection and copying. As such, public records will be available for inspection during regular business hours, with the exception of published holidays. A reasonable period of time may be necessary due to the volume of records requested, the proximity of the location where the records are stored, and/or for the Center to review and redact non-public/confidential information contained in the record. Upon request, a person may receive copies of public records, at cost, within a reasonable period of time.Each request for public records shall be evaluated for a response at the time it is made. Although no specific language is required to make a request, the requester must minimally identify the record(s) requested with sufficient clarity to allow the Center to identify, retrieve, and review the record(s). If a requester makes an ambiguous or overly broad request, the Center Record Officer or designee may deny the request but shall provide the requester with an opportunity to revise the request by informing the requester of the manner in which records are maintained by the Center and accessed in the ordinary course of business. The request for records need not be in writing. The requester shall not be required to provide his/her identity or the intended use of the requested public record(s).
The Center Record Officer is authorized to grant or refuse access to the records of this Center in accordance with the law. Any denial, in whole or in part, of a public records request must include an explanation, including legal authority. If portions of a record are public and portions are exempt, the exempt portions are to be redacted and the rest released. "Redaction" means obscuring or deleting any information that is exempt from the duty to permit public inspection or copying from an item that otherwise meets the definition of a "public record". If there are redactions, the requester must be notified of the redaction and/or the redaction must be plainly visible, and each redaction must be accompanied by a supporting explanation, including legal authority. If the request for records was in writing, the explanation shall also be in writing.
Those seeking public records will be charged only the actual cost of making copies and delivery and transmission of the same, including the cost of postage and mailing supplies. Payment is required in advance of providing the copies. A person who requests
a copy of a public record may request to have the record duplicated on paper, on the same medium on which the Center keeps the record, or on any other medium in which the custodian of records determines that the record reasonably can be duplicated as an integral part of normal operations of the Center. A person who requests a copy of a public record may choose to have that record sent to him/her by United States mail or by other means of delivery or transmission.The number of records requested by a person that the Center will transmit by U.S. mail shall be limited to ten (10) per month, unless the person certifies in writing to the Center that the person does not intend to use or forward the requested records, or the information contained in them, for commercial purposes. "Commercial" shall be narrowly defined and does not include reporting or gathering news, reporting gathering information to assist citizen oversight or understanding of the operation or activities of the Center, or nonprofit educational research. (R.C. 149.43(B)(7)).
Documents in electronic mail format are records as defined by the Ohio Revised Code when their content relates to the business of the Center (i.e., they serve to document the organization, functions, policies, decisions, procedures, operations, or other activities of the Center). E-mail shall be treated in the same fashion as records in other formats and shall follow the same retention schedule.Private e-mail, electronic documents, and documents ("private records") that do not serve to document the Center's organization, functions, policies, decisions, procedures, operations or other activities are not public records. Although private records do not fall under Policy 8310 or AG 8310A, they may fall under Policy 8315 - "Information Management" and/or AG 8315 – "Litigation Hold Procedure".
No public record may be removed from the office in which it is maintained except by a Board officer or employee in the course of the performance of his/her duties.
A School Center Records Commission shall be established consisting of the Board President, Treasurer, and Superintendent in accordance with law to judge the advisability of destroying Center records. Record retention schedules shall be readily available to the public. The Commission shall meet at least once every twelve (12) months to review applications for one-time disposal of obsolete records and schedules of records retention and disposition submitted by any employee of the Center.
Administrative guidelines shall be developed to provide guidance to Center employees in responding to public records requests. The Superintendent shall require the posting and distribution of this policy in accordance with statute.
R.C. 9.01, 102.03(B), 111.41, 111.42,111.43, 111.46, 111.47, 111.99, 149.011
R.C. 149.41, 149.43, 1306.01, 1347 et seq., 3313.26
R.C. 3319.32, 3319.321
20 U.S.C. 1232g
42 U.S.C. 2000ff et seq., The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act
29 C.F.R. Part 1635
State ex rel. Dispatch Printing Co. v. Johnson, 106 Ohio St. 3d 160 (2005)
Revised 11/19/07
Revised 5/19/08
Revised 3/09
Revised 5/21/10
Revised 7/22/16
Revised 10/27/17
© Neola 2017