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January 3, 2001; School District 272 (Eden Prairie)
1/3/2001 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 October 20, 2000, Mike Herbst sent an email to cwilkinson@edenpr.org requesting five different data elements. Mr. Herbst had received this email address by calling the secretary to the superintendent of School District 272 (Eden Prairie) 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 Eden Prairie 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 Eden Prairie's response to his request for data. On December 1, 2000, Donald Gemberling of the Information Policy Analysis Division sent a letter to Dr. William Gaslin, the superintendent of Eden Prairie, informing him of Mr. Herbst's request and offering Eden Prairie the opportunity to respond. On December 15, 2000, a response was received from Marie C. Skinner, attorney for Eden Prairie. In her response, Ms. Skinner does not address the lack of response by Eden Prairie 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 Eden Prairie 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 Eden Prairie School District to comply with all state and federal laws with respect to government data. There is nothing, however, that explains why Eden Prairie did not comply in this instance. According to Minnesota Statutes, sections 13.03, subdivision 2 and 13.05, subdivision 8, government entities such as Eden Prairie 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 Eden Prairie 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 Eden Prairie in developing procedures to assist all staff in responding to requests for data. It is also appropriate to address the issues raised in Eden Prairie's response. First, Eden Prairie 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 Eden Prairie 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 Eden Prairie 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 Eden Prairie's procedures. In summary, by not responding to Mr. Herbst's requests, Eden Prairie is not in compliance with Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 13. Eden Prairie 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 |
Policies and Procedures
Response to data requests
Public access procedures
