Granted: Master class schedule database
March 11, 2009 Filed in: Granted
| Appealed to
court | Unionville-Chadds
Ford | Personal
security | Chester
Co.
Granted: A request for a copy of
the master schedule database from the
Unionville-Chadds Ford School District, with
student names redacted.
From
the Pennsylvania Freedom of Information
Coalition
Granted: A request for a copy of the master schedule database from the Unionville-Chadds Ford School District, with student names redacted.
The requester asked for the district's master schedule for the current school year, with "unique identifiers" provided instead of student names.
The school district denied the request, saying that the district "does not maintain a self-contained document or record that constitutes a 'master schedule,' other than the database itself." It also said that if such a record did exist, student safety would be jeopardized by disclosure, and that it would not be considered a public record anyway, since the open records law applies to transactions of the school board, and not to administrative matters.
The Office of Open Records rejected the district's claim that only school board-related documents are agency records, and affirmed that administrative records are subject to the Right to Know Law.
It also rejected the district's claims that the record sought does not exist because the master schedule exists only in database form. The Office of Open Records noted that a "record" is information regardless of physical form, and that the Right to Know Law provides for access to information, which the district conceded is available on the database.
The Office of Open Records also ruled that the school district did not meet its burden of proving that release of the schedule, with student names redacted, would result in a substantial risk to student security. The OOR agreed with the requester, who noted that the master schedule is not necessary for determining when large numbers of students are assembled, which was the only danger raised by the district.
Knauss vs. Unionville-Chadds Ford School District (1) -- AP 2009-0060
APPEALED TO CHESTER COUNTY COURT: April 9, 2009
Granted: A request for a copy of the master schedule database from the Unionville-Chadds Ford School District, with student names redacted.
The requester asked for the district's master schedule for the current school year, with "unique identifiers" provided instead of student names.
The school district denied the request, saying that the district "does not maintain a self-contained document or record that constitutes a 'master schedule,' other than the database itself." It also said that if such a record did exist, student safety would be jeopardized by disclosure, and that it would not be considered a public record anyway, since the open records law applies to transactions of the school board, and not to administrative matters.
The Office of Open Records rejected the district's claim that only school board-related documents are agency records, and affirmed that administrative records are subject to the Right to Know Law.
It also rejected the district's claims that the record sought does not exist because the master schedule exists only in database form. The Office of Open Records noted that a "record" is information regardless of physical form, and that the Right to Know Law provides for access to information, which the district conceded is available on the database.
The Office of Open Records also ruled that the school district did not meet its burden of proving that release of the schedule, with student names redacted, would result in a substantial risk to student security. The OOR agreed with the requester, who noted that the master schedule is not necessary for determining when large numbers of students are assembled, which was the only danger raised by the district.
Knauss vs. Unionville-Chadds Ford School District (1) -- AP 2009-0060
APPEALED TO CHESTER COUNTY COURT: April 9, 2009