October 2, 2000; School District 284 (Wayzata)
10/2/2000 10:14:43 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 August 16, 2000, IPA received a letter dated August 14, 2000, from Douglas Sauter. In his letter, Mr. Sauter requested that the Commissioner issue an opinion regarding his access to certain data that School District 284, Wayzata, maintains. IPA, on behalf of the Commissioner, wrote to Paul Beilfuss, District Superintendent, in response to Mr. Sauter's request. The purposes of this letter, dated August 18, 2000, were to inform him of Mr. Sauter's request and to ask him to provide information or support for the District's position. On August 22, 2000, IPA received a response, dated August 18, 2000, from Mr. Beilfuss. A summary of the facts is as follows. Mr. Sauter related that he requested access to certain data regarding the elementary strings program, which the District is dismantling. Mr. Sauter wrote: Once again, the Administration...cited, as a basis for the action terminating the kindergarten students, letters and e-mail received by the school district from concerned parents and faculty members. Based on the data referred to in the [Report entitled Review of the Fine Arts Programs ] cited at the meeting [June 12, 2000], the kindergarten program was cut. In a letter dated June 14, 2000, Mr. Sauter requested access to certain data relating to the program and the Administration's decision. He wrote again to Mr. Beilfuss on August 2, 2000: You and I have unsuccessfully exchanged phone calls...This is almost two months after my initial request. In his request for an opinion, Mr. Sauter wrote, No information has been provided. Issue:In his request for an opinion, Mr. Saulter asked the Commissioner to address the following issue:
Discussion:Pursuant to Minnesota Statutes, section 13.03, subdivision 3, when a person makes a request for public data of which s/he is not the subject, government entities are required to respond in a prompt and appropriate manner. Minnesota Rules, part 1205.0300, further provides that entities must respond within a reasonable time. In the case of this opinion, Mr. Sauter requested access to data from the District on June 14, 2000. Seven weeks later, Mr. Sauter wrote again, reiterating that he had requested data on June 14. In his opinion request, dated August 14, 2000, he wrote that the District, as of that date, had not provided him with any information. In his response to the Commissioner, Mr. Beilfuss wrote: Mr. Sauter's initial request was received on June 15, 2000, and we referred the matter to our attorney the very next day, June 16....Our attorney reviewed the materials for data classified as private (student or personnel data), and we now have the information available for Mr. Sauter. During this time, we periodically checked with our attorney on the progress in responding to Mr. Sauter's request and updated Mr. Sauter, through his wife, Mary, by telephone on July 5 and again on August 11. The August 11 phone call was to inform Mr. Sauter that the materials would be available the week of August 14. As discussed above, government entities are required to respond to requests for access to public data promptly, appropriately, and within a reasonable time. In this case, it took the District almost nine weeks to provide data in response to Mr. Sauter's request. This is not prompt, appropriate, or reasonable, especially given that pursuant to section 13.03, subdivision 1, the District is required to keep all records containing government data in such an arrangement as to make them easily accessible for convenient use. Opinion:Based on the facts and information provided, my opinion on the issue that Mr. Sauter raised is as follows:
Signed:
David F. Fisher
Dated: October 2, 2000 |
Response to data requests
Untimely, generally
