January 3, 2001; School District 283 (St. Louis Park)
1/3/2001 10:15:43 AM
This is an opinion of the Commissioner of Administration issued pursuant to section 13.072 of Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 13 - the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act. It is based on the facts and information available to the Commissioner as described below.
Facts and Procedural History:For purposes of simplification, the information presented by the person who requested this opinion and the response from the government entity with which the person disagrees are presented in summary form. Copies of the complete submissions are on file at the offices of IPA and, except for any data classified as not public, are available for public access. On October 20, 2000, Mike Herbst sent an email to lerdall.elaine@slpschools.org requesting five different data elements. Mr. Herbst had received this email address by calling the secretary to the superintendent of School District 283 (St. Louis Park) and asking for the name, email and fax number of the individual in charge of information dissemination to [sic] the district. When Mr. Herbst did not receive a response to his October 20, 2000 email, he forwarded the message to the superintendent of St. Louis Park on November 3, 2000. It is not possible to tell what email address was used for the November 3, 2000 email because it does not display in the copy of the email forwarded by Mr. Herbst. Mr. Herbst has not received a response to either email. On November 21, 2000, Mr. Herbst asked the Commissioner of Administration to issue an advisory opinion about the appropriateness of St. Louis Park's response to his request for data. On December 1, 2000, Donald Gemberling of the Information Policy Analysis Division sent a letter to Ms. Barbara Pulliam, the superintendent of St. Louis Park, informing her of Mr. Herbst's request and offering St. Louis Park the opportunity to respond. On December 15, 2000, a response was received from Marie C. Skinner, attorney for St. Louis Park. In her response, Ms. Skinner does not address the lack of response by St. Louis Park but rather responds to Mr. Herbst's request for data.Issue:In the request for an opinion, Mr. Herbst asked the Commissioner to address the following issue:
Discussion:There is nothing in the response offered by St. Louis Park that explains why Mr. Herbst has not received a direct response to his request for data. The response states: It is the policy of the St. Louis Park School District to comply with all state and federal laws with respect to government data. There is nothing, however, that explains why St. Louis Park did not comply in this instance. According to Minnesota Statutes, sections 13.03, subdivision 2 and 13.05, subdivision 8, government entities such as St. Louis Park are required to have procedures in place to respond to requests for access to government data. It appears that no such procedures are in place as Mr. Herbst did not receive a response to his October 20, 2000 request for data. Model policies and procedures are available for St. Louis Park to use. One set is available from the Minnesota School Boards Association and another has been developed by the Department of Administration and is available on the Web at www.ipad.state.mn.us. Hopefully, these will be of assistance to St. Louis Park. It is also appropriate to address the issues raised in St. Louis Park's response. First, St. Louis Park is not certain what constitutes the data retention list requested by Mr. Herbst. When a government entity receives a request that is not clear, its obligation is to ask the requester for clarification. As St. Louis Park develops procedures, a method for handling requests that need clarification should be included. Second, teacher and administrator turnover rates and where teachers and administrators were employed before reaching St. Louis Park are not maintained by the District. The appropriate response to Mr. Herbst's request would have been to so inform him. Nothing in Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 13 requires government entities to produce data they don't have, but they are required to inform the requester that it is not available. A method for notifying requesters when data do not exist should be included in St. Louis Park's procedures. In summary, by not responding to Mr. Herbst's requests, St. Louis Park is not in compliance with Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 13. St. Louis Park is strongly encouraged to develop policies and procedures to assist staff in responding to future data requests. Opinion:Based on the facts and information provided, my opinion on the issue raised by Mr. Herbst is as follows:
Signed:
Kirsten Cecil
Dated: January 3, 2001
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