PR BASICS - Freedom of Information Act and Alabama Department of Education External Data Request

Alabama School Communicators Association Freedom of Information Act and External Data Requests Presented by Susan Crowther, J.D. Alabama Department of Education 1

Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) Found at 5 U.S.C. § 552 (2010) & 28 CFR § 16.1, et seq.

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FOIA requires federal agencies to make available to the public rules, opinions, orders, records and proceedings. More information regarding FOIA and how to submit a request can be found at www.foia.gov. Note that most agencies have a lot of information already available on the agency’s website. The request must be submitted in writing with enough specificity to determine what information is being sought. Following is the link which provides addresses for FOIA requests to different departments: http://www.foia.gov/reportmakerequest.html 3

There are restrictions on information that may be obtained. For example, information pertaining to national security or that is privileged may not be disclosed. Information protected by FERPA is likewise protected subject to certain exceptions.

Also note the following from foia.gov: “You should be aware that the FOIA does not require agencies to do research for you, analyze data, answer written questions, or create records in response to your request. �

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Definitions (courtesy of foia.gov)

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FOIA: “The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) was signed into law in 1966. The FOIA provides individuals with a statutory right of access to certain federal agency records. The FOIA requires agencies to disclose requested records unless they are protected from public disclosure by the FOIA. Congress included in the FOIA nine exemptions and three law enforcement exclusions to protect important interests such as national security, personal privacy, privileged communications, and law enforcement.�

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FOIA Request: “A request submitted to a federal agency asking for access to agency records on any topic. A FOIA request can generally be made by any person, to any federal agency, and only requires that requesters reasonably describe the records they are seeking and comply with agency regulations for making such requests.�

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FOIA.gov: “The flagship initiative of the Department of Justice’s Open Government Plan, FOIA.Gov is a government-wide FOIA resource. On this website the public will have access to all the FOIA data collected by the Department of Justice and will be able to view the data graphically and generate reports. Additionally, the website contains information to educate the public about how the FOIA works, spotlights significant FOIA releases and explains how to make FOIA requests to federal agencies.”

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NOTE: FOIA applies to the Federal government. States are governed by their open records act (e.g., Alabama Open Records Act) and other regulations.

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Alabama Records Requests

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In Alabama, copies of records may be obtained by submitting a request pursuant to the Alabama Open Records Act. For the State Department of Education, a lot of records can be found on our website. The procedures for submitting an open records request can be found on the department’s website.

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The following applies to SDE open records requests: Requests made under the Open Records Act, Ala. Code ยง 36-12-40 and ยง 36-12-41, must be submitted in writing to the Office of General Counsel, at the Alabama Department of Education, 50 N. Ripley Street, Room 5103, P. O. Box 302101, Montgomery, AL 36130. The request must be signed by the individual requesting the records and set out sufficient information to determine which records are being requested.

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The following applies to SDE open records requests:

The charge for records copying is $1.00 per page for the first 25 pages and $.50 per page thereafter, a search fee of $5.00 per request, plus the cost of any postage if the records are to be mailed. An additional $5.00 charge will be assessed for certified copies of records. The charge for a complete copy of the State Board of Education Administrative Rules is $50.00. Additional charges may apply for fragile records. For inspection of records, the inspection must occur during normal business hours.

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SDE External Data Request Policy Administered by the SDE External Data Request Committee

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Information requests are governed by the Department’s External Data Request policy. This policy applies to requests made outside the Department and not for official business. For example, a U.S. Department of Education’s request for information would not fall under this policy but a reporter seeking data would.

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The reason for developing this policy is that previously there was no monitoring of information disseminated from the department nor any recouping of costs.

Most importantly, there was no approval process for any of this information being released.

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And there was a lot of information being released‌ Information Composite 180

160 140 120

Impact

100 80

60 40 20

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And data‌ Data Composite 90 80 70

Impact

60 50 40 30 20 10

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Another view‌

180 160 140 120 100 80 60 40 20

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In order to establish controls for the information being released and allow for the recouping of the costs of the production of this information, an External Data Request policy was developed. The policy was approved by the Department’s Steering Committee and an EDR committee established.

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The chairman of the External Data Request Committee is Dr. Michael Sibley.

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The Department’s policy regarding External Data Requests can be found on the SDE’s website: http://www.alsde.edu/datarequest/ default.aspx

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A signed request must be submitted in writing to Dr. Sibley. It must be specific enough to ascertain what information is being sought. The request may be handdelivered, mailed, faxed ((334) 3534682) or emailed (datarequest@alsde.edu).

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Dr. Sibley, and if needed his committee, will then evaluate the request to determine the availability of the data requested and the cost to fulfill the request. Requests requiring unreasonable time or use of other State resources may be denied. Additionally, if a request is inappropriate or unable to be filled due to legal concerns, the request will be denied.

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A complete description of the charges is available on SDE’s website. Briefly, a per page charge of $1.00 for the first 25 pages and then 50 cents thereafter applies. There is also a data extraction charge currently set at $150.00 per hour. Extra fees may apply if the request takes longer than estimated. All charges must be paid prior to fulfilling of the data request. An additional charge of $1.00 will be assessed for reports that are burned to a CD or DVD or a report may be burned in lieu of the per page charge. SDE accepts checks and money orders.

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Review Process for External Data Requests Request for Information Received

Director of Communication Reviews Request

Is request overly burdensome?*

Yes

Request Denied

No Prioritize request & calculate cost to fulfill request

Advise requestor of cost

If $ received, assemble and provide copies of records

If $ not received, request disregarded

*i.e., will the request overly burden the resources of the Department in terms of costs to both physical and human resources; is the request for a purpose that is not in the best interest of the State or the Department?

By implementing this policy, the Department has saved time and money. A wealth of information is already available on the Department’s website and most requests are to consolidate information that could otherwise be prepared by the requestor. This policy allows the Department to recoup the expenses involved in preparing these reports and frees the Department to prioritize requests so that data requests related to official business are given priority over requests from the general public.

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Questions?

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