Public Access to District Records
The district’s Records Access Officer is Scott Hoot. Please email all requests to that address.
Public access to school district records, as required by the Freedom of Information Law of New York State (FOIL), shall be provided for in the North Colonie Central School District under the following rules and procedures:
Purpose
It shall be the purpose of these rules and procedures to provide reasonable public access to the records of the North Colonie Central School District, except where such access may be restricted in accordance with federal or state law. Access to school district records may not be provided for purposes of sale or use for private profit or fund raising.
1. Records Access Officer – All requests for access to school district records with the exception of payroll information shall be made through the district Records Access Officer. The Clerk of the Board of Education, whose office is located in the district offices, 91 Fiddlers Lane, Latham, N.Y., telephone 785-8591, shall serve as the Records Access Officer and Records Management Officer.
2. Fiscal Officer – All requests to examine payroll information shall be made in writing through the district Fiscal Officer. The district School Business Administrator, whose office is located in the district offices, 91 Fiddlers Lane, Latham, N.Y., telephone 785-8591, shall serve as the Fiscal Officer.
3. Location of Records for Examination – All records will be made available for inspection and copying at the school district offices, 91 Fiddlers Lane, Latham, N.Y. unless otherwise indicated by the Records Access Officer.
4. Times for Inspection of Records – Records will be made available for inspection and copying during regular business hours (8:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M.) on regular working days, under the supervision of the Records Access Officer or his/her designee.
5. Fees for Copying Records – Records will be copied upon request, with the following scale of fees, with payment to be made in advance.
a. 8½”x 11”, or smaller $0.25 per page or maximum allowable fee set by law
b. larger than 8½”x 11” , $0.25 per page or maximum allowable fee set by law
c. copying a disc-, actual cost per disc
6. Subject Matter List of Records – A Subject Matter List of school district records shall be prepared and posted in the district offices. The list shall be reviewed and updated on a semi-annual basis.
7. Proper Identification of Records Requested – A request for any record shall be specific enough for the record to be identifiable by district administration.
8. Removal of Records – No records may be removed by the requester from the office where the record is located.
9. Response to Request – All requests for information shall be responded to within five business days of receipt of the request. If more than five days is required to produce a record, the request shall be acknowledged with
a brief explanation of the reason for the delay and an estimate of the date the record will be forthcoming, which will be within 20 working days unless otherwise noted.
10. Denial of Access to Records and Right of Appeal – The denial of access to any record shall be in writing, stating the reason therefore and advising the requester of his/her right to appeal to the Superintendent of Schools, located at the district offices, 91 Fiddlers Lane, Latham, N.Y., telephone 785-8591.
The written appeal must be filed within 30 days following the denial of the record and must include the following:
a. Date and location of request for records
b. Records to which the requester was denied access
c. Name and return address of the requester
The Superintendent shall inform the applicant and the New York State Committee on Open Government of his/her decision on the appeal within seven business days of receipt of the appeal. The Superintendent shall transmit to the Committee on Open Government photocopies of all appeals and determinations.
Records Retention and Disposition Schedule
Records Retention and Disposition Schedule No. ED-I, containing records retention periods for school district records established pursuant to Part 185 of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education, is hereby adopted for use by the Board of this school district, unless otherwise provided by law.
This Board hereby authorizes the disposition of records in accordance with retention periods set forth in the adopted Records Retention and Disposition Schedule.
Cross-ref: 5500, Student Records
6600, Fiscal Accounting and Reporting
Ref: Public Officers Law §84 et seq.
Education Law §1708(3); 2116
Arts and Cultural Affairs Law §57.11
Local Government Records Law, Article 57-A
8 NYCRR Part 185
Note: Prior policies: Rules Governing Public Access to School District Records, 1370(a)(b) and Records Retention and Disposition Schedule, 3490
Policy Adopted: December 9, 1974
Amended: September 27, 1976
Amended: May 22, 1978
Amended: October 10, 1972
Amended: February 24, 1997
Amended: April 24, 2000
Amended: January 25, 2010
Amended: September 23, 2010
