Operating Guidelines
Book:	Operating Guidelines
Section:	K - General Public Relations
Title:	Public Disclosure and Access to Records
Number:	KDB
Status:	Active
Legal:	O.C.G.A. 50-18-98-50-18-70, 50-18-71, Open Records Act
Adopted:
Last Revised:	01/24/2006
Last Reviewed:

Policy Detail

The Open Records Act allows the public the right to inspect records created by governmental agencies. All public records, including email, are subject to an open records request, with the following exemptions:

• Student records protected by FERPA
• Medical & insurance information
• Evaluations & In-progress personnel investigations
• Mother’s birth name & day and month of birth
• Banking & financial information & SSN
• Home address & Home telephone number

Exempt items will be redacted prior to release of documents.

Records must be maintained in accordance with the state-approved retention schedules. The school system is not required to create any document that does not exist.

Open records requests should be forwarded immediately to the Communications Department. A response will be provided within three business days and may include:

• Notification of when the requested documents would be available for review,
• Release of responsive documents, or
• Estimated charge for complying with the request. Charges will be estimated based on staff time required for search, retrieval and redaction and number of copies to be made. The copying fee is 25 cents per page. Staff time is calculated by using the hourly salary of the lowest paid employee who can reasonably perform the search and subtracting the first 15 minutes.

When cost estimates are given, no materials shall be gathered until after the requestor agrees to the estimated charges.
Failure to adhere to the Open Records Act or state-approved retention schedules may result in a misdemeanor violation, monetary fine, or imprisonment.

Cross References: KDB - Public Disclosure and Access to Records Policy