Jt. Jerome School District No. 261

COMMUNITY RELATIONS 4260

Records Available to Public

Subject to the limitation provided herein, and as provided by law, full access to public records concerning the

administration and operations of the District shall be afforded to the public. Public access to District records shall

be afforded according to appropriate administrative procedures.

Every person has the right to examine and take a copy of any public record at all reasonable times. All District

records except those restricted by state and federal law shall be made available to citizens upon written request

for inspection at the Clerk's office.

The Superintendent shall serve, or designate someone to serve, as “public records coordinator” with the

responsibility and authority for ensuring compliance with the display, indexing, availability, inspection, retention

and copying requirements of federal law, state law, and this policy. Responsibility and authority for indexing shall

include identifying the general subject matter of all public records kept or maintained by the District, the custodian

of these records, and their physical location. The identified physical location of the District’s records is provided in

the Retention of District Records Policy. The public records coordinator shall authorize the inspection and copying

of the District's records only in accordance with the criteria set forth in this policy and in compliance with state and

federal laws.

A written copy of the Board’s minutes shall be available to the general public within a reasonable time after the

meeting in which they are approved. Drafts of the Board’s minutes are considered to be public records and shall

be produced upon request. However, the District shall watermark such public records with the statement

“Unofficial Draft Minutes not yet reviewed or approved by Board.”

Definitions

A “Public record” includes any writing containing information relating to the conduct or administration of the

public's business prepared, owned, used or retained by any state agency, independent public body corporate and

politic, or local agency regardless of physical form or characteristics. Provided, however, that personal notes

created by a public official solely for his or her own use shall not be a public record as long as such personal notes

are not shared with any other person or entity.

A "Writing" includes, but is not limited to, handwriting, typewriting, printing, photocopying, photographing, and

every means of recording, including letters, words, pictures, sounds or symbols, or combination thereof, and all

papers, maps, magnetic or paper tapes, photographic films and prints, magnetic or punched cards, discs, drums or other documents.

Records Exempt from Disclosure

Public records of the District do not include the personal notes and memoranda of staff that remain in the sole

possession of the maker and which are not generally accessible or revealed to other persons.

In accordance with Idaho Code, the following records shall not be subject to public inspection and/or copying:

1. Any public record exempt from disclosure by federal or state law or federal regulations to the extent

specifically provided for by such law or regulation;

2. Retired employees' and retired public officials' home addresses, home telephone numbers, and other financial and non-financial membership records;

3. Records of a current or former employee other than the employee's duration of employment with the

District, position held, and location of employment. This exemption from disclosure does not include the contracts of employment or any remuneration, including reimbursement of expenses. All other personnel information relating to an employee or applicant including, but not limited to, information regarding sex, race, marital status, birth date, home address and telephone number, applications, testing and scoring materials, grievances, correspondence, retirement plan information and performance evaluations, shall not be disclosed to the public without the employee's or applicant's written consent;

4. Records relating to the appraisal of real property, timber, or mineral rights prior to its acquisition, sale, or lease by the District;

5. Any estimate prepared by the District that details the cost of a public project until such time as disclosed or bids are opened, or upon award of the contract for construction of the public project;

6. Records of any risk retention or self-insurance program prepared in anticipation of litigation, or for

analysis of, or settlement of potential or actual money damage claims against the District and/or its

employees except as otherwise discoverable under the Idaho or federal rules of civil procedure. These

records shall include, but are not limited to, claims evaluations, investigatory records, computerized

reports of losses, case reserves, internal documents, and correspondence relating thereto. At the time

any claim is concluded, only statistical data and actual amounts paid in settlement from public funds shall be deemed a public record unless otherwise ordered to be sealed by a court of competent jurisdiction. Provided however, nothing in this subsection is intended to limit the attorney client privilege or attorney work product privilege otherwise available to any public agency or independent public body corporate and politic;

7. Computer programs developed or purchased by or for the District for its own use. As used in this

subsection, "computer program" means a series of instructions or statements which permit the

functioning of a computer system in a manner designed to provide storage, retrieval, and manipulation of data from the computer system, and any associated documentation and source material that explain how to operate the computer program. Computer program does not include:

a. The original data including, but not limited to, numbers, text, voice, graphics, and images;

b. Analysis, compilation, and other manipulated forms of the original data produced by use of the program; or

c. The mathematical or statistical formulas that would be used if the manipulated forms of the

original data were to be produced manually.

8. Personal information from any file maintained for students. Information from student records shall be

disclosed only in accordance with the requirements of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act Idaho Code, and adopted District policy;

9. Test questions, scoring keys, or other examination data used to administer academic tests;

10. Records relevant to a controversy to which the District is a party but which records would not be available to another party under the rules of pre-trial discovery for cases pending resolution;

11. Records of buildings, facilities, infrastructures, and systems when the disclosure of such information

would jeopardize the safety of persons or the public safety. Such records may include emergency

evacuation, escape or other emergency response plans, vulnerability assessments, operation and security manuals, plans, blueprints or security codes.

However, all personnel records of a current or former public official reflecting public service or employment

history, classification, pay grade and step, longevity, gross salary and salary history, status, workplace, and

employing agency are subject to public inspection and/or copying.

If the record requested for inspection and/or copying contains both information exempted from disclosure and

non-exempt information, the District shall, to the extent practicable, produce the record with the exempt portion

deleted and shall provide a written explanation for the deletion.

Response to Requests

The District shall require that a public records request be submitted in writing upon a form prescribed by the

District with the requester’s name, mailing address, email address, and telephone number. A request for public

records may be conducted by electronic mail. The request shall specifically describe the subject matter and records sought, including a specific date range for when the records sought were created. The request shall be as specific as possible, describing the records sought in enough detail to let the Public Records Coordinator find the records with reasonable effort. The District may provide the requester information to help the requester narrow the scope of the request or to help the requester make the request more specific when the records requested are

voluminous or costly.

The District shall either grant or deny a person’s request to examine or copy public records within three (3)

working days of the date of the receipt of a request for public records. If a longer period of time is needed to

locate or retrieve the records, the District shall notify the person requesting the records of the same and provide

the records to such person not later than ten (10) working days following the request. In the event an individual

requests a record be provided in electronic format, the District shall provide the record in electronic format if the

record is available in that format. If a record is requested in electronic format and the record cannot easily be

converted to electronic format within ten (10) working days, the District shall notify the person requesting the

records of this fact and provide them with an estimate of the time necessary to complete the conversion. The

documents shall then be provided at a time mutually agreeable to the parties giving consideration to any

limitations that may exist regarding electronic conversion.

If the District fails to respond, the request shall be deemed to be denied within ten (10) working days following the

request. If the District denies the request for examination or copying the public records or denies in part and

grants in part the request for examination and copying of the public records, the public records coordinator shall

notify the person in writing of the denial or partial denial of the request for the public record. The notice of denial

or partial denial shall state that the attorney for the District has reviewed the request or shall state that the District

has had an opportunity to consult with an attorney regarding the request for examination or copying of a record

and has chosen not to do so. The notice of denial or partial denial also shall indicate the statutory authority for the

denial and indicate clearly the right to appeal the denial or partial denial and the time periods for doing so.

The public records coordinator is authorized to seek an injunction to prevent the disclosure of records otherwise

suitable for disclosure when it is determined that there is reasonable cause to believe that the disclosure would

not be in the public interest and would substantially or irreparably damage any person or would substantially or

irreparably damage vital governmental functions.

Fee Waiver

The District will adhere to its copying fee schedule unless it is determined by the Public Records Coordinator that

the individual making such a request has demonstrated information sufficient to fulfill the following test:

1. That the requester’s examination and/or copying of public records is likely to contribute

significantly to the public’s understanding of the operations and activities of the government;

2. That the requester’s examination and/or copying of public records is not primarily in the

individual interest of the requester including, but not limited to, the requester’s interest in litigation in

which the requester is or may become a party; and

3.That the requester’s examination and/or copying of public records will not occur if fees are

charged because the requester has insufficient financial resources to pay such fees.

Upon a request that fees not be charged, and the Public Records Coordinator’s consideration of the above factors,

the public records coordinator shall notify the requester in writing of their decision within ten (10) working days

following the request. If the fee waiver is denied, the requester shall then have seven (7) days to file an appeal of

the denial with the Superintendent. The Superintendent shall review the denial and either affirm or reverse the

denial of the public records coordinator in writing within ten (10) working days of receipt of the appeal. In the

event that the Superintendent is the public records coordinator then the appeal shall be filed within seven (7) days

to the Board. At the Board’s next regularly scheduled meeting, the Board shall review the denial of fee waiver and

either affirm or reverse it. There shall be no further appeal beyond the Board.

The request shall not be fulfilled or prepared, and the time for response will not begin to run, until such time as

the final determination as to fees has been addressed and any fees to be charged have been paid.

A requester may not file multiple requests for public records solely to avoid payment of fees. If the District

suspects that this is the case then it can aggregate the related requests and charge based upon its copying fee

schedule.

Fee Schedule

The copying fee schedule of the District is as follows:

a) The District shall not charge a fee for the first 100 pages of records or the first two (2) hours of

labor in responding to a request;

b) Copies of public records 5 cents ($.05) per page (cannot exceed actual cost) for copies beyond

the first 100 pages or beyond the first (2) hours of labor in responding to a request;

c) The District will charge for the labor costs associated with locating and copying documents if:

(1) The request is for more than 100 pages of records;

(2) The request includes non-public information that must be redacted from the public

records; and/or

(3) The labor associated with locating and copying the records exceeds two (2) hours.

d) The fees for labor associated with responding to a public records request shall be charged at the

per hour pay rate of the lowest paid administrative staff employee of the District who is

necessary and qualified to process the request.

e) The fees associated with redactions required to be made by an attorney employed by the District

shall be charged at the lowest paid hourly rate of the lowest paid attorney employed by the

District or if there are no attorneys employed by the District than the rate shall be no more than

the usual and customary rate of the attorney retained by the District.

f) Copy of a duplicate computer disc or similar record system the fee shall not exceed:

(1) The District’s cost of copying the information in that form;

(2) The District’s cost of conversion, or the cost of conversion charged by a third party, if

the electronic record must be converted to electronic form.

Fees shall be collected in advance. The District shall provide requesters with an itemized statement of fees to

show the per page costs for copies and the hourly rate of employees and attorneys involved in responding to the

request.

Cross Reference: 3570-3570P Student Records

4130 Public Access to District Website

4260 Records Available to Public

8605 Retention of District Records

Legal Reference: Title 74 Chapter 1 Public Records Act

I.C. § 74-204 Written Minutes of Meetings

IDAPA. 08.01.01.100 Procedures for Responding to Requests for Examination and/or

Copying Public Records

Idaho Public Records Law Manual, July 2015 July 2018 (available at

https://www.ag.idaho.gov/content/uploads/2018/04/PublicRecordsLaw.pdf) (last

accessed November 11, 2019)

Policy History:

Adopted on: 09/26/2006

Revised on: 09/27/2011

Revised on: 12/18/2012

Revised on: 12/15/2015

Revised on: 01/26/2021