Jefferson Forest High School Drag Show Cancellation
| Submitted | July 20, 2022 |
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Communications
From: Adam Steinbaugh
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the Virginia Freedom of Information Act, I hereby request the following records:
1. A copy of any "inquiries from citizens with concerns regarding an event scheduled for August 4th at Jefferson Forest High School" as referenced in the July 19 statement published here: https://wset.com/news/local/drag-show-scheduled-at-bedford-county-high-school-changes-location-after-controversey-lgbtq-kendall-mullins-republicans-democrats-july-19-2022.
2. A copy of any draft of the statement mentioned above.
3. Copies of any correspondence (including, but not limited to, emails, text messages, and social media messages) sent to or from the "division administration" referenced in the foregoing statement which concern or relate to the event that had been scheduled for August 4.
4. Copies of any records pertaining to the decision or efforts by Bedford County Public Schools to ask the organizers of the August 4 event to find an alternative sponsor and venue.
The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.
In the event that there are fees, 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,
Tom Nash, a citizen of Virginia, in coordination with Adam Steinbaugh.
From: Bedford County Public Schools
Your request has been received.
I will follow up with an estimate if there will be charges before
fulfillment.
Melissa Sexton
FOIA Officer
Bedford County Public Schools
From: Bedford County Public Schools
Tom Nash,
In acknowledgement of your FOIA request, please provide more defined
parameters for numbers 1 and 3 of your request including specific email
accounts, specific staff member texts/social media messages, a date range,
keywords, etc.
Melissa Sexton
FOIA Officer
Bedford County Public Schools
From: Adam Steinbaugh
Hello Ms. Sexton --
I am not in a position to know who the staff members or public commenters referred to by the district's statement are, but that information may likely be obtained from the person or office responsible for issuing the statement. With respect to the date range, I think we can limit the request to records generated on or after June 1, 2022.
Thanks again,
Adam Steinbaugh
From: Bedford County Public Schools
Tom Nash & Adam Steinbaugh,
Per § 2.2-3704, Section H of the Code of Virginia, we have determined that
the cost of producing the requested records will be $80.58. As such, we
would invoice you for this amount once the request has been fulfilled.
Employee
Hourly Rate
Time Spent
Total
IT Specialist
$26.40
2 hours
$39.60 (First 30 minutes free)
FOIA Officer
$39.66
1 hour 2 min
$40.98
Total
$80.58
It is estimated to take 2 hours for the staff members to pull all of the
requested emails from our archiving system and convert them to pdf format,
as well as search for and take screenshots of the requested text messages.
There are a total of 51 emails. The process of myself, FOIA Officer, reading
through and redacting the records if they are pursuant to the Scholastic
Records exemption (§ 2.2-3705.4(A) (1)) at an estimated 50 emails per hour
will take 1 hour.
The process of myself, FOIA Officer, reading through and redacting the 8
text message screenshot records if they are pursuant to the Scholastic
Records exemption (§ 2.2-3705.4(A) (1)) at an estimated 240 text message
screenshots per hour will take 2 minutes.
Please let me know if you would like to proceed with the fulfillment of your
request.
Melissa Sexton
FOIA Officer
Bedford County Public Schools
From: requests@muckrock.com
<mailto:requests@muckrock.com>
<requests@muckrock.com
<mailto:requests@muckrock.com> >
From: Adam Steinbaugh
Please proceed. Thank you!
From: Bedford County Public Schools
Tom Nash & Adam Steinbaugh,
It is not practically possible to provide the requested records within the five-work-day period. The Code of Virginia allows any public body to withhold certain records from public disclosure. Bedford County Public Schools withholds records subject to the Scholastic Records (§ 2.2-3705.4(A) (1)) exemption. The process of reading through the requested emails and text messages to determine if this exemption applies and if there is a need for redaction makes it impossible to provide you with a response to your request within five working days. In accordance with the Virginia Freedom of Information Act § 2.2-3700, the public body, in this case being Bedford County Public Schools shall have an additional seven working days to fulfill your request.
Melissa Sexton
FOIA Officer
Bedford County Public Schools
From: Bedford County Public Schools
Tom Nash & Adam Steinbaugh,
Please accept this response to your FOIA request submitted on July 20, 2022, requesting:
1. A copy of any "inquiries from citizens with concerns regarding an event scheduled for August 4th at Jefferson Forest High School" as referenced in the July 19 statement published here: https://wset.com/news/local/drag-show-scheduled-at-bedford-county-high-school-changes-location-after-controversey-lgbtq-kendall-mullins-republicans-democrats-july-19-2022.
2. A copy of any draft of the statement mentioned above.
3. Copies of any correspondence (including, but not limited to, emails, text messages, and social media messages) sent to or from the "division administration" referenced in the foregoing statement which concern or relate to the event that had been scheduled for August 4.
4. Copies of any records pertaining to the decision or efforts by Bedford County Public Schools to ask the organizers of the August 4 event to find an alternative sponsor and venue.
With respect to the date range, I think we can limit the request to records generated on or after June 1, 2022.
Please see the attached records.
The Code of Virginia allows any public body to withhold certain records from public disclosure. Bedford County Public Schools has withheld four records pursuant to Scholastic Records (§ 2.2-3705.4(A) (1)). Those records can be seen as redacted in the attachments containing email correspondence.
Per § 2.2-3704, Section F of the Code of Virginia, Bedford County Public Schools can make reasonable charges not to exceed its actual cost incurred in accessing, duplicating, supplying, or searching for the requested records.
School Board regulation KBA-R: Requests for Public Records states that if a request will take less than 30 minutes to fulfill, there is no charge. However, your request took more than 30 minutes to search for and supply the relevant records. We only charge our actual costs in staff time for fulfilling requests.
An invoice for $59.43 is attached for the cost of accessing, duplicating, and supplying the requested records. Please send cash or a check payable to Bedford County Public Schools, Attn: FOIA Officer, 311 South Bridge Street, Bedford VA 24523. There is also the option of dropping it off with the receptionist in the tan building located at 311 South Bridge Street, Bedford VA 24523.
Melissa Sexton
FOIA Officer
Bedford County Public Schools
From: Adam Steinbaugh
To Whom It May Concern:
Please find enclosed a check for $59.43 to satisfy the fee associated with the attached public records request.
Thank you.
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