Public Records Policy

Board Policy 8310

The Board is responsible for maintaining the public records of this District and to make such records available for inspection and reproduction in strict adherence to the State's Public Records Act. Public records requests should be directed to the Treasurer as the Public Records Officer for the District. The Public Records Officer or his designee shall respond to all public records requests on behalf of the District.

The Board will utilize the following procedures regarding the availability of public records. A "public record" is 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 District. "Electronic record" is defined as a record created, generated, sent, communicated, received, or stored by electronic means. "Public records" do not include medical records, trial preparation records, confidential law enforcement investigatory records, records the release of which is prohibited by State or Federal law, and any other records which fall under the exceptions set forth in R.C. 149.43. 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.

District's Responsibility

The District'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. The District's public records shall be promptly prepared and made available for inspection. 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 District to review and redact non-public/confidential information contained in the records. "Redaction" means obscuring or deleting any information that is exempt from public inspection or copying from an item that otherwise meets the definition of a "public record." Upon request, a person may receive copies of public records, at cost, within a reasonable period of time. No record shall be removed from the office in which it is maintained for the purpose of inspection and copying. A Board employee must be present during the inspection and copying of all District records.

While the District is responsible for promptly preparing and making available public records, State law does not require the District to provide additional information that may be related to a record but is not part of a record. In addition, the District is not required to create a new record to respond to a public request for information if no public record is available that is responsive to that request.

Requestor's Responsibilities

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 requestor must minimally identify the record(s) requested with sufficient clarity to allow the District to identify, retrieve, and review the record(s). If a requestor makes an ambiguous or overly broad request or has difficulty in making a request for inspection or copies of public records such that the Public Records Officer cannot reasonably identify what public records are being requested, the Public Records Officer shall contact the requestor for clarification. The request for records need not be in writing. The requestor shall not be required to provide his/her identity or the intended use of the requested public record(s). Notwithstanding R.C. 149.43(B)(4), the Public Records Officer or designee may require disclosure of the requestor's identity or the intended use of the records when student directory information is requested to ascertain whether the information is intended for use in a profit-making plan or activity.

At the time of the request, the Public Records Officer shall inform the person making the request of the estimated length of time required to gather the records. All requests for public records shall be satisfied or acknowledged by the District promptly following the receipt of the request. If the request for records was in writing, the acknowledgment by the District shall also be in writing.

Routine requests for records shall be satisfied as soon as is feasible. Routine requests include, but are not limited to, meeting minutes (both draft and final form), budgets, salary information, forms and applications, personnel rosters, etc. If fewer than twenty (20) pages of copy are requested or if the records are readily available in an electronic format that can be e-mailed or downloaded easily, requests shall be satisfied as soon as is feasible. Any request deemed significantly beyond routine, such as seeking a voluminous number of copies and/or records, or requiring extensive research, the acknowledgment shall include the following:

1. an estimated number of business days necessary to satisfy the request;
2. an estimated cost if copies are requested;
3. any items within the request that may be exempt from disclosure and the reason for such exemption, including legal authority.

The Superintendent or Public Records Officer is authorized to grant or refuse access to the records of the District 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. If there are redactions, the requestor must be notified of the redactions and/or the redactions 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.

Requestor's Rights

A person may obtain copies of the District's public records upon payment of a fee, if required. A person who requests a copy of a public record may request to have said record duplicated on paper, on the same medium on which the District keeps the record, or on any other medium in which the Public Records Officer determines that said record reasonably can be duplicated as an integral part of normal operations. 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 provided the person making the request pays in advance for said record as well as the costs for postage and the mailing supplies.

The number of records requested by a person that the District will transmit by U.S. mail shall be limited to ten (10) per month, unless the person certifies, in writing to the District, 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 or gathering information to assist citizen oversight or understanding of the operation or activities of the District, or nonprofit educational research. (R.C. 149 .43(B )(7))

Those seeking copies of public records will be charged only the actual cost of making copies. The charge for paper copies is $.10 cents per page. The charge for downloaded computer files to a compact disc is $.65 per disc. There is no charge for documents e- mailed.

Electronic Records

Documents in electronic mail format, including but not limited to the content, transactions information, and any attachments associated with the e-mail are records as defined by the Ohio revised code when their content relates to the business of the District (i.e., they serve to document the organization, functions, policies, decisions, procedures, operations, or other activities of the District). E-mail shall be treated in the same fashion as records in other formats and shall follow the District's Schedule of Records Retention and Disposition ("Records Retention Schedule").

Records sent or received through private e-mail accounts are subject to disclosure if their content relates to the business of the District, as defined above. All employees, Board members, and/or other representatives of the District are strongly discouraged from using private e-mail addresses to conduct District business; however, if this occurs, they are responsible for retaining e-mails that meet the definition of public records and copying them to their District e-mail account(s) and to the Public Records Officer. The Public Records Officer will make good faith and diligent efforts to gather responses to all public records requests, including private e-mails, but, to the extent permissible by law, the burden will be on the individual employees, Board members, and/or other representatives of the District to provide the Public Records Officer with all private e-mails with content that relates to the business of the District, promptly upon composition or receipt, so that the records may be maintained in accordance with this policy and the District's Records Retention Schedule.

"Private records" (private e-mail, electronic documents and other documents that do not serve to document the District's organization, functions, policies, decisions, procedures, operations or other activities) are not public records. Although private records do not fall under Policy 8310, they may fall under Policy 8315 -"Information Management." District employees, Board members and other representatives of the District who use the District's e-mail system shall acknowledge in writing that (i) they have no expectation of privacy in anything that they create, store, send, or receive on the District's e-mail system; (ii) e-mails can be monitored without prior notification by the District; and (iii) if there is evidence that such employee, Board member, or other representative of the District is not adhering to District policy, the District reserves the right to take disciplinary action.

No public record may be removed from the office in which it is maintained except by a Board member or employee in the course of the performance of his/her duties.

District Records Commission

A District Records Commission shall be established consisting of the Board President, Treasurer, and Superintendent in accordance with law to judge the advisability of destroying District records. The District's Records Retention Schedule shall be updated regularly and posted prominently. The Commission shall meet at least once every twelve (12) months. On a periodic basis (at least annually), and subject to the requirements of this policy, the District Records Commission may request the destruction of all e-mail records that have been retained for a period of twenty-four (24) months or longer, so long as such destruction is consistent with the District's Records Retention Schedule.

Nothing in this policy shall be construed as preventing a Board member, in the performance of his/her official duties, from inspecting any record of this District, except for information protected as confidential by Federal, State or local laws or regulations.

While personnel files contain public records, some specific information and/or records contained in such files may be confidential and not subject to disclosure.

The Superintendent and/or Public Records Officer shall provide for the inspection, reproduction, and release of public records in accordance with this policy and with the Public Records Law. The Superintendent shall require the posting and distribution of this policy in accordance with Federal and State law.

Records Retention

The District Records Commission is responsible for developing the District's Records Retention Schedule (Form RC-2), which must be approved by the Ohio Historical Society and the State Auditor. Subsequent revisions to the Form RC-2 must also be approved using this same process. Only in conformance with the approved Records Retention Schedule (Form RC-2) or a properly approved one-time Records Disposal Request (Form RC-l) may the District's Records Commission review applications for the disposal of obsolete records utilizing the Certificate of Records Disposal (Form RC-3).

To facilitate the development, updating and/or revision of the Records Retention Schedule, and in reviewing requests for disposal of obsolete records, the District Records Commission shall utilize the following as recommended by the State Auditor's office.

Records Retention Schedule

1000	BOARD AND ADMINISTRATIVE RECORDS
1101	Minutes	Permanent
1101.1	Audio Tapes	2 Years
1102	Blue Prints, Plans, Maps	Permanent
1103	Deeds, Easements, Leases	Permanent
1104	Board Policy Books and Other Adopted Policies	1 Year After Superseded
1105	Administrative Regulations	1 Year After Superseded
1106	Court Decisions	Permanent
1107	Claims and Litigation	Permanent
1201	Elections	10 Years
1202	Record Disposal Forms (RC-3)	10 Years
1203	Bargaining Agreements	10 Years After Expiration
1204	Budget Policy Files	5 Years
1301	Worker's Compensation Claims	10 Years After Financial Payment Made
1302	Bank Depository Agreements	4 Years After Completion
1303	Organization Reports	2 Years**
1304	Board Meeting Notes	1 Year
1305	Agendas	1 Calendar Year **
1401	Adopted Courses of Study	Until Superseded
1402	Adopted Special Education Programs	Until Superseded
1403	Adopted Special Programs	Until Superseded
2000	Employees Files (Including employment applications, resumes, contracts/salary notices, evaluations, personnel actions, absence certification, transcripts and any other documents which become part of the file.)
2101	Certified Active Employees	Permanent
2102	Classified Active Employees	Permanent
2103	Certificated Inactive Employees	Permanent***
2104	Classified Inactive Employees	Permanent***
2105	Civil Rights, Civil Services, and Disciplinary Reports	Permanent***
2107	Retirement Letters	Permanent***
2108	Substitute Records	25 Years
2301	Employee Contracts	4 Years After Termination From Employment
2302	Professional Conference Applications	2 Years **
2303	Irregular Employee Contracts (Substitutes, etc.)	4 Years After Contract Expires
2304	Unemployment Claims	5 Years
2305	Unemployment	5 Years
2306	Applications (Not Hired)	2 Years**
2307	Schedules of Employees	Fiscal Year Plus 2 years
2308	Student Helper Applications	2 Years
2309	Teacher Personnel Reports (Internal)	Fiscal Year Plus 1 Year
2310	I-9 Immigration Verification Forms	Termination of Employment Plus 1 Year
2401	Job Description	Retain until superseded or obsolete