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FREEDOM OF INFORMATION
COMMISSION |
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In
the Matter of a Complaint by |
FINAL
DECISION |
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Brenda
Ivory, |
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Complainants |
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against |
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Docket
#FIC 1999-306 |
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Vice-Principal,
Griswold High School, |
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Respondents |
January
26, 2000 |
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The above-captioned matter was heard as a contested case on September 14, 1999, at which time the complainant and the respondents appeared, stipulated to certain facts and presented testimony, exhibits and argument on the complaint.
After consideration of the entire record, the following facts are found and conclusions of law are reached:
1. The respondents are public agencies within the meaning of §1-200(1), G.S. [formerly §1-18a(1), G.S.].
2. By letter dated May 25, 1999, the complainant requested copies of all letters delivered to the Griswold Board of Education (hereinafter “the board”) recommending disciplinary action of students at Griswold High School for drug and alcohol related misconduct and copies of all notices of the board’s disciplinary decisions in cases concerning drug or alcohol related misconduct for the academic school years between 1995 and 1998.
3. By letter dated June 1, 1999, the superintendent of the respondent schools denied the complainant’s request and stated that she was precluded from disclosing the requested records because of student confidentiality. The superintendent also informed the complainant that the results of the expulsion hearings could be found in the board’s meeting minutes and that the complainant was welcome to visit the office and search the minutes herself to obtain the information she was seeking.
4. It is found that by letter dated June 25, 1999 and filed on June 29, 1999, the complainant appealed to this Commission alleging that the respondents violated the Freedom of Information (“FOI”) Act by failing to provide her with the information she requested.
5. Section 1-210(a), G.S. [formerly §1-19(a), G.S.], provides in relevant part that:
[e]xcept as otherwise provided by any federal law or state statute, all records maintained or kept on file by any public agency, whether or not such records are required by any law or by any rule or regulation, shall be public records and every person shall have the right . . . to receive a copy of such records in accordance with the provisions of section 1-212. Any agency rule or regulation, or part thereof, that conflicts with the provisions of this subsection or diminishes or curtails in any way the rights granted by this subsection shall be void.
6. Section 1-212(a), G.S. [formerly §1-15(a), G.S.], provides in relevant part that “[a]ny person applying in writing shall receive, promptly upon request, a plain or certified copy of any public record . . .”
7. At the hearing on this matter, the complainant clarified her request as one for any records between 1995-1998 pertaining to any incidents of misconduct involving Griswold High School students and drugs or alcohol and the manner in which such incidents were handled by the board including, but not limited to, the letters sent by the superintendent to the board and the parent(s) of the student(s) involved and the board’s notices of its disciplinary decisions.
8. It is found that the requested records are public records within the meaning of §1-210(a), G.S. [formerly §1-19(a), G.S.].
9. It is found that the requested records contain information describing, in various degrees of detail, incidents of drug or alcohol misconduct by students which were referred to the board by the superintendent for disciplinary action. The records for each incident specifically include the incident report, correspondence from teachers and others regarding the student(s) involved, the superintendent’s report and a letter to the board recommending disciplinary action.
10. At the hearing on this matter, the respondents argued, among other exemptions, that the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act provides a basis to withhold the records described in paragraph 7, above. The respondents also argued that the complainant’s request for the board’s notices of its disciplinary decisions required research because the decisions are recorded in the special meeting minutes of the board and each would have had to have been read in order to determine which contained a disciplinary decision pertaining to drug and alcohol. The respondents argued that the FOI Act does not require public agencies to do research.
11. With respect to the respondents’ first argument in paragraph 10, above, §1-210(b)(17), G.S. provides that “[n]othing in the [FOI] Act shall be construed to require disclosure of [e]ducational records which are not subject to disclosure under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, 20 USC 1232g . . .”
12. It is found that the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, 20 USC 1232g, prohibits public schools that receive federal funding from disclosing information concerning a student which would personally identify that student.
13. However, §1-210(b)(11), G.S. [§1-19(b)(11), G.S.] provides in relevant part that:
[n]othing in the Freedom of Information Act shall be construed to require the disclosure of . . . [n]ames or addresses of student enrolled in any public school or college without the consent of each student whose names or address is to be disclosed who is eighteen years of age or older and a parent or guardian of each such student who is younger than eighteen years of age, provided this subdivision shall not be construed as prohibiting the disclosure of the names or addresses of students enrolled in any public school in a regional school district to the board of selectmen or town board of finance, as the case may be, of the town wherein the student resides for the purpose of verifying tuition payments made to such school.
14. It is found that the complainant consented to the redaction of the names of the students that may be contained in the requested records. However, it is further found that the mere redaction of the students’ names would not ensure that their identities would be protected.
15. It is therefore concluded that §1-210(b)(11), G.S. [formerly §1-19(b)(11), G.S.] exempts from disclosure the requested records pertaining to any incidents of misconduct involving Griswold High School students and drugs or alcohol as described in paragraphs 2 and 7, above.
16. With respect to the complainant’s request for the board’s notices of decisions pertaining to drug and/or alcohol misconduct of students, it is found that the complainant’s request only requires the respondent to locate and retrieve the requested records which are readily identifiable from her request and therefore, does not require research. Wildin v. Freedom of Information Commission, et al. , Doc. No CV 970572290 Superior Court, June 1998.
17. It is therefore concluded that the respondents violated §1-210(a), G.S. [formerly §1-19(a), G.S.] by failing to provide the complainant with copies of the board’s notices of decisions pertaining to drug and/or alcohol misconduct of students in the Griswold Public Schools.
The following order by the Commission is hereby recommended on the basis of the record concerning the above-captioned complaint.
1. The respondents shall forthwith provide the complainant with copies of the board’s notices of decisions pertaining to drug and/or alcohol misconduct of students attending Griswold High School, which are recorded in the special meeting minutes of the Griswold Board of Education, for the years specified in paragraph 2, of the findings, above, free of charge.
2. In complying with paragraph 1 of the order, above, the respondents may redact the names and addresses of the students.
Approved by Order of the Freedom of Information Commission at its regular meeting of
January 26, 2000.
_________________________
Melanie R. Balfour
Acting Clerk of the Commission
PURSUANT TO SECTION 4-180(c), G.S., THE FOLLOWING ARE THE NAMES OF EACH PARTY AND THE MOST RECENT MAILING ADDRESS, PROVIDED TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION COMMISSION, OF THE PARTIES OR THEIR AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVE.
THE PARTIES TO THIS CONTESTED CASE ARE:
Brenda Ivory
41-52 South Main Street
Jewett City, CT 06351
Vice-Principal, Griswold High School, Griswold Public Schools; and Griswold Public Schools
c/o Atty. Richard D. O’Connor
Siegel, O’Connor, Schiff & Zangari, PC
150 Trumbull Street
Hartford, CT 06103
__________________________
Melanie R. Balfour
Acting Clerk of the Commission
FIC1999-306FD/mrb/01/28/00