Subject matter listing (City School District of Albany)

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the New York State Freedom of Information Law (1977 N.Y. Laws ch. 933), I hereby request the following records:

A copy of the current list by subject matter, of all records in the possession of the agency.

Per NEW YORK PUBLIC OFFICERS LAW, ARTICLE 6, Section 87(3):

"Each agency shall maintain:

[....]

(c) a reasonably detailed current list by subject matter, of all records in the possession of the agency, whether or not available under this article. Each agency shall update its subject matter list annually, and the date of the most recent update shall be conspicuously indicated on the list."

I also request that, if appropriate, fees be waived as I believe this request is in the public interest. The requested documents will be made available to the general public free of charge as part of the public information service at MuckRock.com, processed by a representative of the news media/press and is made in the process of news gathering and not for commercial usage.

In the event that fees cannot be waived, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 5 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Benjamin Lesser

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Jan. 29, 2015. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Jan. 29, 2015. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

Dear Superintendent Marguerite Vanden Wyngaard,

I hereby appeal the denial of access regarding my request, which was made on January 29, 2015 and sent to the City School District of Albany.

The request sought a subject matter list of all records in the possession of the school district. The request was denied in the attached response dated March 18, 2015, in which the records access officer for the City School District of Albany stated that “the District does not keep track of this information”.

I am writing to confirm that the District does not keep such a list, because the District is required to do so by state law. Section 87(3) of the New York Freedom Of Information Law states

“Each agency shall maintain:
…
(c) a reasonably detailed current list by subject matter, of all records in the possession of the agency, whether or not available under this article. Each agency shall update its subject matter list annually, and the date of the most recent update shall be conspicuously indicated on the list."[1]

The City School District of Albany is an agency subject to the Freedom of Information Law; New York state courts have repeatedly stated that public school districts are “agencies” under this law. [2]

Please confirm that the District does not keep a subject matter list of all records, and that no higher agency maintains such a list on the District’s behalf. The list may also be referred to as a “record retention schedule.”

As required by the Freedom of Information Law, the head or governing body of an agency, or whomever is designated to determine appeals, is required to respond within 10 business days of the receipt of an appeal. If the records are denied on appeal, please explain the reasons for the denial fully in writing as required by law.

In addition, please be advised that the Freedom of Information Law directs that all appeals and the determinations that follow be sent to the Committee on Open Government, Department of State, One Commerce Plaza, 99 Washington Ave., Albany, New York 12231.

Sincerely,

Benjamin Lesser

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[1] The full text of the Freedom of Information Law is available at http://www.dos.ny.gov/coog/foil2.html#s87. The Freedom of Information Law is formally titled Public Officers Law, Article 6, §§86-90.

[2] See Gannett Co. v. Rochester City Sch. Dist 684 N.Y.S.2d 757, 758 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 1998) (“It is undisputed that the Rochester City School District (RCSD) is an ‘agency.’”)