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July 29, 2002; School District 284 (Wayzata)
7/29/2002 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:On June 25, 2002, IPAD received a letter from Jean Gaudette. In her letter, Ms. Gaudette, asked the Commissioner to issue an advisory opinion regarding her access to certain data that Independent School District 284, Wayzata, maintains. IPAD moved forward with Ms. Gaudette's request after receiving clarification. IPAD on behalf of the Commissioner, wrote to Paul Beilfuss, Superintendent of the District, in response to Ms. Gaudette's request. The purposes of this letter, dated July 3, 2002, were to inform him of Ms. Gaudette's request and to ask him to provide information or support for the District's position. On July 11, 2002, IPAD received a response, dated July 10, 2002, from Superintendent Beilfuss. A summary of the facts as presented by Ms. Gaudette is as follows. In a letter dated March 18, 2002, addressed to Alan Hopeman, the District's Finance and Business Director, Ms. Gaudette asked to gain access to certain data. Specifically, she wrote: I am requesting that you send a complete and detailed accounting of all of the cost and fees associated with the special education proceedings and consultations including the attorneys' fees that were billed to and paid by the District for the last five years. If you intend to charge me for providing these documents please provide me with a break down of the charges that are being requested. Although this letter was dated March 18, 2002, Ms. Gaudette, in her opinion request, added, Resent in April 2002 - as original address (to district) was incomplete and letter was returned. Ms. Gaudette wrote to the Commissioner that she had yet to receive a response from the District. Issue:In her request for an opinion, Ms. Gaudette asked the Commissioner to address the following issue:
Discussion:Pursuant to Minnesota Statutes, section 13.03, subdivision 2, when an individual requests public data of which s/he is not the subject, government entities are required to respond in an appropriate and prompt manner. Minnesota Rules, part 1205.0300, provides further guidance stating that entities must respond within a reasonable time. In his comments to the Commissioner, Superintendent Beilfuss wrote: Ms. Gaudette's letter was never received by Mr. Hopeman. Mr. Hopeman's first inkling that any such request had been made by Ms. Gaudette was when he received a copy of your July 3, 2002, letter to me, along with copies of the letter that Ms. Gaudette claims to have sent. Therefore, no response was prepared. Obviously, it is impossible for this school district, or any political subdivision, to respond to data information requests that are not received, whatever the reason for non-receipt.... I certainly do believe that the School District's response was appropriate, given that I believe that no such request was received by the School District. Mr. Hopeman is a responsible employee who answers his correspondence in a timely fashion. He responded by phone and in writing to two other requests for identical or similar information that he received during the same time period in which Ms. Gaudette believes that her request was received. (Both requesting parties for the other requests have also requested the Commissioner to issue Advisory opinions.) The only reasonable explanation I can offer for Mr. Hopeman not responding to Ms. Gaudette's request is that her request was never received. In terms of responding to Ms. Gaudette, Mr. Beilfuss wrote: I will await the Commissioner's opinion on this matter before proceeding further with Ms. Gaudette's data information request. I suspect that the Commissioner's opinion on the other two other requests for similar/identical information will have a bearing on how the School District would respond to Ms. Gaudette's request. When we receive copies of the Commissioner's opinions, a representative from our School District will contact Ms. Gaudette to clarify and respond to her information request. The Commissioner has the following comments. A factual dispute exists which the Commissioner is unable to resolve. Ms. Gaudette states that she re-sent her data request sometime in April 2002. Superintendent Beilfuss states that the District did not receive her request. Now that the District has received a copy of Ms. Gaudette's data request, it should respond promptly. However, given that the Commissioner soon will be issuing two additional opinions regarding similar data requests made to the District, it is reasonable for the District to hold its response until it receives the benefit of the Commissioner's comments in those opinions. Opinion:Based on the facts and information provided, my opinion on the issue that Ms. Gaudette raised is as follows:
Signed:
David F. Fisher
Dated: July 29, 2002 |
