Chester Community Charter School PUBLIC RECORDS ________________________________________________________________________ The Charter School recognizes the importance of public records as the record of the Charter School’s actions and the repository of information about this school. The public has the right to access and procure copies of public records, with certain exceptions, subject to law, Charter School policy and administrative regulations. Financial record – any account, voucher or contract dealing with the receipt or disbursement of funds or acquisition, use or disposal of services, supplies, materials, equipment or property; or the salary or other payments or expenses paid to an officer or employee, including the individual’s name and title; and a financial audit report, excluding the audit’s underlying work papers. Public record – a record, including a financial record of the Charter School, that is not protected by a defined privilege or is not exempt from being disclosed under one of the exemptions in Pennsylvania’s Right to Know Law or under other federal or state law or regulation, or judicial decree or order. Record – information, regardless of physical form or characteristics, that documents a Charter School transaction or activity and is created, received or retained pursuant to law or in connection with a Charter School transaction, business or activity, including: a document; paper; letter; map; book; tape; photograph; film or sound recording; information stored or maintained electronically; and a data-processed or image-processed document. Response – the Charter School’s notice informing a requester of a granting of access to a record or the Charter School’s written notice to a requester granting, denying, or partially granting and partially denying access to a requested record. Requester – a legal resident of the United States, or an agency as defined in the Right to Know Law, who requests access to a record. The Charter School shall make the Charter School’s public records available for access and duplication to a requester, in accordance with law, Charter School policy and administrative regulations. The Charter School shall designate an Open Records Officer, who shall be responsible to: 1. Receive written requests for access to records submitted to the Charter School. 2. Review and respond to written requests in accordance with law, Charter School policy and administrative regulations. 3. Direct requests to other appropriate individuals in the Charter School or in another agency. 4. Track the Charter School’s progress in responding to requests. 5. Issue interim and final responses to submitted requests. 6. Maintain a log of all record requests and their disposition. 7. Ensure appropriate Charter School staff are trained to perform assigned job functions relative to requests for access to records. Upon receiving a request for access to a record, the Open Records Officer shall: 1. Note the date of receipt on the written request. 2. Compute and note on the written request the day on which the five-(5) day period for response will expire. 3. Maintain an electronic or paper copy of the written request, including all documents submitted with the request, until the request has been fulfilled. 4. If the written request is denied, maintain the written request for thirty (30) days or, if an appeal is filed, until a final determination is issued or the appeal is deemed denied. Requesters may access and procure copies of the public records of the Charter School following a written request and response thereto as provided for herein during the regular business hours of the administrative offices of the Charter School. A requester’s right of access does not include the right to remove a record from the control or supervision of the Open Records Officer or designee. The Charter School shall not limit the number of records requested. When responding to a request for access, the Charter School is not required to create a record that does not exist nor to compile, maintain, format or organize a record in a manner which the Charter School does not currently use. Information shall be made available to individuals with disabilities in an appropriate format, upon request and with sufficient advance notice. The Charter School shall post at the administration office and on the Charter School’s web site, if the Charter School maintains a web site, the following information: 1. Contact information for the Open Records Officer. 2. Contact information for the state’s Office of Open Records or other applicable appeals officer. 3. The form to be used to file a request, with notation that the state Office of Open Records form may also be used if the Charter School decides to create its own form. 4. Charter School policy, administrative regulations and procedures governing requests for access to the Charter School’s public records. Request for Access A written request for access to a public record shall be submitted on the required form(s) and addressed to the Open Records Officer. Each written request shall be limited to one (1) public record. Written requests may be submitted to the Charter School in person, by mail, to a designated facsimile machine, and to a designated e-mail address. Each request must include the following information: 1. Identification or description of the requested record, in sufficient detail. 2. Medium in which the record is requested. 3. Name and address of the individual to receive the Charter School’s response. The Charter School shall not require an explanation of the reason for the request or the intended use of the requested record, unless otherwise required by law. Fees The Charter School shall approve a list of reasonable fees relative to requests for public records. A list of applicable fees shall be disseminated to requesters. The Open Records Officer shall establish such fee list from time to time. The initial fee list for copies of documents shall not exceed twenty-five (25¢) cents per page. No fee may be imposed for review of a record to determine whether the record is subject to access under law. The Chief Executive Officer may waive duplication fees when the requester duplicates the record or the Chief Executive Officer deems it is in the public interest to do so. Prior to delivery of or granting access to copies of the public record, the Charter School may require payment of the fees for duplicating or making copies of the records and prior to commencing copying and duplicating public records, a Charter School may request payment in advance where it is expected that the cost will exceed One Hundred ($100.00) Dollars. Response to Request Charter School employees shall be directed to immediately forward requests for access to public records to the Open Records Officer. Upon receipt of a written request for access to a record, the Open Records Officer shall determine if the requested record is a public record and if the Charter School has possession, custody or control of that record. The Open Records Officer shall respond as promptly as possible under the existing circumstances, and the initial response time shall not exceed five (5) business days, or any extension thereof as hereinafter provided, from the date the written request is received by the Open Records Officer. The initial response shall grant access to the requested record; deny access to the requested record; partially grant and partially deny access to the requested record; notify the requester of the need for an extension of time to fully respond; or request more detail from the requester to clearly identify the requested material. If the Charter School fails to respond to a request within five (5) business days of receipt, or any extension thereof, the request for access shall be deemed denied. Extension of Time If the Open Records Officer determines that an extension of time is required to respond to a request, written notice thereof shall be sent within five (5) business days of receipt of request. The notice shall indicate that the request for access is being reviewed, the reason that the review requires an extension, a reasonable date when the response is expected, and an estimate of applicable fees owed when the record becomes available. Up to a thirty-(30) day extension for one (1) of the listed reasons does not require the consent of the requester. If the response is not given by the specified date, it shall be deemed denied on the day following that date. A requester may consent in writing to an extension that exceeds thirty (30) days, in which case the request shall be deemed denied on the day following the date specified in the notice if the Open Records Officer has not provided a response by that date. Extension of time may be allowed for the following reasons: (1) the request for access requires redaction of a record; (2) the request for access requires the retrieval of a record stored in a remote location; (3) a timely response to the request for access cannot be accomplished due to bona fide and specified staffing limitations; (4) a legal review is necessary to determine whether the record is a record subject to access under this act; (5) the requester has not complied with the agency’s policies regarding access to records; (6) the requester refuses to pay applicable fees authorized by this act; or (7) the extent or nature of the request precludes a response within the required time period. Granting of Request If the Open Records Officer determines that the request will be granted, the response shall inform the requester that access is granted and either include information on the regular business hours of the administration office, provide electronic access, or state where the requester may go to inspect the records or information electronically at a publicly accessible site. The response shall include a copy of the fee schedule in effect, a statement that prepayment of fees is required in a specified amount if access to the records will cost in excess of One Hundred ($100.00) Dollars, and the medium in which the records will be provided. A public record shall be provided to the requester in the medium requested if it exists in that form; otherwise, it shall be provided in its existing medium. However, the Charter School is not required to permit use of its computers. The Open Records Officer may respond to a record’s request by notifying the requester that the record is available through publicly accessible electronic means or that the Charter School shall provide access to inspect the record electronically. If the requester, within thirty (30) days following receipt of the Charter School’s notice, submits a written request to have the record converted to paper, the Charter School shall provide access in printed form within five (5) days of receipt of the request for conversion to paper. A “public record” that the Charter School does not possess but is in possession of a third party with whom the Charter School has contracted to perform a governmental function and which directly relates to that governmental function shall be considered the public record of the Charter School. Such “public record”, as defined herein, means a record of the Charter School not otherwise exempt under the Right to Know Law, federal or state law or regulations, or judicial order or decree or its privileged. This provision shall not be construed to require access to any record of the third-party contractor in possession of the public agency or to other records of the contractor. If the Open Records Officer determines that a public record contains information both subject to and not subject to access, which is an integral part of the public record, the Open Records Officer shall grant access to the information subject to access and deny access to the information not subject to access. The Open Records Officer shall redact from the record the information that is not subject to access. The Open Records Officer shall not deny access to a record if information is able to be redacted. If the Open Records Officer responds to a requester that a copy of the requested record is available for delivery at the administration office and the requester does not retrieve the record within sixty (60) days of the Charter School’s response, the Charter School shall dispose of the copy of the public record and retain any fees paid to date and/or shall consider the request to be rescinded. The record of the request and any response and the record of receipt and reply shall be retained. Notification to Third Parties If the Charter School produces a record that is not a public record in response to a request, the Open Records Officer shall notify any third party that provided the record to the Charter School, the person that is the subject of the record, and the requester. The Open Records Officer shall notify a third party of a record request if the requested record contains a trade secret or confidential proprietary information, in accordance with law and administrative regulations. The third party shall have the right to object to such request as provided by law or regulation. Denial of Request If the Open Records Officer denies a request for access to a record, whether in whole or in part, a written response shall be sent within five (5) business days of receipt of the request or by the end of any extension of time to respond to such request. The response denying the request shall include the following: 1. Description of the record requested. 2. Specific reasons for denial, including a citation of supporting legal authority. 3. Name, title, business address, business telephone number, and signature of the Open Records Officer on whose authority the denial is issued. 4. Date of the response. 5. Procedure for the requester to appeal a denial of access. The Open Records Officer may deny a request for access to a record if the requester has made repeated requests for that same record and the repeated requests have placed an unreasonable burden on the Charter School. The Open Records Officer may deny a request for access to a record when timely access is not possible due to a disaster, or when access may cause physical damage or irreparable harm to the record. To the extent possible, a record’s contents shall be made accessible even when the record is physically unavailable. Information that is not subject to access and is redacted from a public record shall be deemed a denial. If a written request for access to a record is denied or deemed denied, the requester may file an appeal with the state’s Office of Open Records within fifteen (15) business days of the mailing date of the Open Records Officer’s response or deemed denial. Notice to Third Parties Written notice shall be given to third parties where the request for a public record could possibly contain a trade secret or a confidential proprietary information in the document provided by the third party to the Charter School. Such notice shall be provided within five (5) business days of the receipt of the request for the public record. The third party shall have five (5) business days from receipt of the notification from the Charter School to provide input on the release of the requested record. In the event the third party objects to the release of the record for the reason that it contains a trade secret or a confidential proprietary information of the third party, the Charter School shall deny or grant the request for the public record within ten (10) business days of the notice to the third party and shall notify the third party and the requester of the decision. Transcripts A request for a transcript of an administrative proceeding submitted prior to an adjudication by the Charter School becoming final, binding, and non-appealable shall be provided by the stenographer or court reporter in accordance with the contract between the Charter School and the court reporter. This provision shall be subject to the exemptions to the Right to Know Law and any federal or state law or regulations, judicial decree or order, due process, confidentiality or privileged. Following an adjudication becoming final, binding and non-appealable, a transcript of an administrative proceeding shall be provided to a requester in accordance with the duplication rates set by the Charter School. Exceptions from Public Records The burden or proving that a record of the Charter School is exempt from public access shall be on the Charter School by a preponderance of the evidence in accordance with the provisions of the Right to Know Law. Documents exempt by the Right to Know Law, other federal and state laws, shall include, but not be limited to, the following: (1) A record the disclosure of which: (i) would result in the loss of Federal or State funds by an agency or the Commonwealth; or (ii) would be reasonably likely to result in a substantial and demonstrable risk of physical harm or the personal property of an individual. (2) A record maintained by an agency in connection with the military, homeland security, national defense, law enforcement or other public safety activity that if disclosed would be reasonably likely to jeopardize or threaten public safety or preparedness or public protection activity or a record that is designated classified by an appropriate Federal or State military authority. (3) A record, the disclosure of which creates a reasonable likelihood of endangering the safety or the physical security of a building, public utility, resource, infrastructure, facility or information storage system, which may include: (ii) lists of infrastructure, resources and significant special events, including those defined by the Federal Government in the National Infrastructure Protections, which are deemed critical due to their nature and which result from risk analysis; threat assessments; consequences assessments; antiterrorism protective measures and plans; counterterrorism measures and plans; and security and response needs assessments; and (iii) building plans or infrastructure records that expose or create vulnerability through disclosure of the location, configuration or security of critical systems, including public utility systems, structural elements, technology, communication, electrical, fire suppression, ventilation, water, wastewater, sewage and gas systems. (4) A record regarding computer hardware, software and networks, including administrative or technical records, which, if disclosed, would be reasonably likely to jeopardize computer security. (5) A record of an individual’s medical, psychiatric or psychological history or disability status, including an evaluation, consultation, prescription, diagnosis or treatment; results of tests, including drug tests; enrollment in a health care program or program designed for participation by persons with disabilities, including vocation rehabilitation, worker’s compensation and unemployment compensation; or related information that would disclose individually identifiable health information. (6) (i) The following personal identification information: (A) A record containing all or part of a person’s Social Security number; driver’s license number; personal financial information; home, cellular or personal telephone numbers; personal e-mail addresses, employee number or other confidential personal identification number. (B) A spouse’s name; marital status, beneficiary or dependent information; (C) The home address of a law enforcement officer or judge. (ii) Nothing in this paragraph shall preclude the release of the name, position, salary, actual compensation or other payments or expenses, employment contract, employment-related contract or agreement and length of service of a public official or an agency employee. (iii) An agency may redact the name or other identifying information relating to an individual performing an undercover or covert law enforcement activity from a record. (7) The following records relating to an agency employee: (i) A letter of reference or recommendation pertaining to the character or qualification of an identifiable individual, unless it was prepared in relation to the appointment of an individual to fill a vacancy in an elected office or an appointed office requiring Senate confirmation. (ii) A performance rating or review. (iii) The result of a civil service or similar test administered by a Commonwealth agency, legislative agency or judicial agency. The result of a civil service or similar test administered by a local agency shall not be disclosed if restricted by a collective bargaining agreement. Only test scores of individuals who obtained a passing score on a test administered by a local agency may be disclosed. (iv) The employment application of an individual who is not hired by the agency. (v) Workplace support services program inform
Chester Community Charter School
- (East Campus) 214 East 5th Street Chester, PA 19013 - (West Campus) 2730 Bethel Rd Chester, PA 19013
(610) 447-0400
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