Policy 8365 - Public Records Request Guidelines

      8365

Access to Public Records Policy and Procedures

Cranston Public Schools     

Pursuant to Rhode Island General Laws 38-2-3(d), Cranston Public Schools has adopted the following procedures to promote increased disclosure and transparency that are consistent with the Access to Public Records Act ( APRA) and its goal of facilitating public access to government records.

The designated public records officer for the district is the

 Assistant Superintendent of Cranston Public Schools

845 Park Ave. 

Cranston, RI 02910

401 270-8178

Fax 270-8455

HOW TO MAKE A REQUEST

A written request to inspect records  can be made in person  or electronically

A designated form is not required to make the request, however, it should be identified in the request that it is an Access to Public Records request (APRA)

RESPONDING TO A REQUEST

Within ten (10) business days of receipt of the request, the public records officer will provide the following response to the requester:

Access to the records

Denial of the request

Extension of time to respond

Estimate of the time and cost, which tolls the time to respond

ACCESS:

Requested documents presumed to be public records will be disclosed, unless the document(in whole or part) is exempt pursuant to one or more of the exemptions found in R.I. General Laws 38-2-2(4)

Documents will be provided in any requested media that  is available and can be provided, (R.I. General Laws 38-2-3(g)

DENIAL:

Any denial for a request for records will be made in writing including the specific reason(s) (including citation to specific exemptions, where applicable) for denial

• Without a showing of good cause, any exemption and not specifically stated in the denial is deemed waived.  (R.I. Gen..Laws 38-2-7(a))
• If withholding the entire document,  must state that no reasonably segregable portion of the document can be produced. (R.I. Gen. Laws 38-2-3(b)
• The procedure for appealing denial or response  will be included in every APRA response by the district. (R.I. Gen. Laws 38-2-7(a)

The following responses constitute denials for purposes of the Access to Public Records Act (APRA) and the requirements set forth above:

• A response indicating that the public body does not maintain documents responsive to the request. (R.I. Gen. Laws 38-2-7(c)).
• A response that includes any redaction of any records in whole or in part..

EXTENDED TIME TO RESPOND   (R.I. Gen. Laws  38-2-3(e)

The district may extend the time to respond by an additional twenty (20) business days.  The extension will be in writing demonstrating extension due to the nature of the request, the number of requests pending, the difficulty in the amount of the documents  and or time to search for documents including retrieval and copying.

COSTS  (R.I. Gen. Laws 38-2-4)

$.15 per document 

$15.00 per hour for search, retrieval, review and redaction with no charge for the first hour

 Multiple requests from the same person/entity within a 30 day time period will be considered 

 one request for purposes of calculating the first hour at no charge.

Any other cost provision specifically authorized by law.

For all costs, an estimate will be provided and upon receipt of payment. The time period for retrieval, review, and document preparation will begin the 10 day or 20 day extended  time period for response to the request.

First Reading:  11/19/12 (Res. No. 12-11-20) CRANSTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Second Reading:  12/10/12 (Res. No. 12-12-11) CRANSTON, RHODE ISLAND

Policy Amended: 8/15/23 (Res. No. 23-08-09)