Northshore School District - Police and law enforcement agency reports, complaints, or investigations for the years (2012-2024)

This message is being sent on behalf of JoLynn Berge, Public Records Officer

Dear requests@muckrock.com:

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The District is in receipt of your public records request dated 2/7/2024. Your request is for the following records:

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To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Washington Public Records Act [RCW 42.56] I hereby request the following records:

1. I request an electronic copy of all RECORDS and WRITING (including emails, texts, telephone call logs, faxes, etc.) in the possession of NORTHSHORE SCHOOL DISTRICT regarding any police or law enforcement agency reports, complaints, or investigations for the years 2012-2024

Please begin by producing responsive records in REVERSE chronological order by year, i.e. 2024, 2023, 2022, - any Agreements, Programs, incidents, complaints, awards, meetings, reports, investigations, documents, communications (to or from), EMAILS (to or from), documents, etc. (RECORDS and WRITING as defined by RCW 42.56.010(4)) in the in the care, custody, control, or possession of your agency referencing (but not limited to) any of the following LOCAL law enforcement agencies:

King County Sheriff
Bothel Police Department
Kenmore Police
Seattle Police

The following State law enforcement agencies:

Washington State Patrol
Washington State Child Protective Services

The following Federal law enforcement agencies:

Federal Bureau of Investigation
United States Secret Service
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
Drug Enforcement Agency
Immigration and Naturalization Service
Department of Homeland Security
Immigration and Customs Enforcement
United States Marshals Service
Federal Protective Service

Examples of responsive documents to be produced would include (but not be limited to) the following:

• Any Emails between Northshore School District employees and any King County Sheriff's deputy or detective (or any other KCSO employee).
• Any meeting minutes, notes, agreements, programs, handouts, incident reports, referencing the Northshore police Department.
• Citizen complaints, investigations, internal Northshore School District referrals to any of the above law enforcement agencies.
• Email, Faxes, Letters, from the Washington State patrol to Northshore School District regarding any person or topic.
• Immigration and Customs Enforcement requests addressed to the Northshore School District regarding any person or topic.
• Police reports sent to Northshore School District via email. Police reports archived in Northshore School District files. Northshore School district meeting minutes referencing law enforcement activities in the district.

Again, these are just examples of what records would be considered responsive to this request, this is by no means a comprehensive list of all records that could be responsive.

RECORDS INSTALLMENTS

If production of responsive records will be completed in multiple installments, please begin by producing records in reverse chronological format. The most recent public records should be produced first and the oldest records last.

DEFINITION OF RECORDS AND WRITINGS

RECORDS AND WRITINGS as defined by RCW 42.56.010(4): any handwriting, typewriting, printing, photostating, photographing, and every other means of recording any form of communication or representation including, but not limited to, letters, words, pictures, sounds, or symbols, or combination thereof, and all papers, maps, magnetic or paper tapes, photographic films and prints, motion picture, film and video recordings, magnetic or punched cards, discs, drums, diskettes, sound recordings, and other documents including existing data compilations from which information may be obtained or translated.

PRODUCTION AND DELIVERY OF ELECTRONIC RECORDS

Please provide all records in their native electronic format. Please do not instead create new records by printing electronic files then scanning and printing the newly scanned prints.

The use of 3rd party “portals” (Such as GOVQA or NEXTREQUEST) for communication and production of records in response to a public records request is optional for the requestor in the State of Washington. Respectfully we decline to use any 3rd party "portal" system, specifically GOVQA and NEXTREQUEST. Please provide all records electronically via direct email attachment, or via no password, no registration internet cloud-based download link. Please do not direct or invite us to use, register for, or communicate with your agency via any 3rd party portal including but not limited to FOIAOnline, GovQA, NextRequest, FOIAExpress, JustFOIA FOIADirect, WebForm, or any other commercial 3rd party records portal service.

PUBLIC RECORDS REQUESTS SUBMITTED VIA EMAIL

RCW 42.56.080 - Identifiable records—Facilities for copying—Availability of public records.

"...Agencies shall honor requests received in person during an agency's normal office hours, or by mail or email, for identifiable public records unless exempted by provisions of this chapter. No official format is required for making a records request; however, agencies may recommend that requestors submit requests using an agency provided form or web page."

This public records request is being made via email. This public records request will be honored and fulfilled by your agency via email as requested or relief will be sought per statute.

NATIVE ELECTRONIC FORMAT

Please provide all identified public records in their NATIVE electronic format. Unless the records exist IN PAPER FORM ONLY, DO NOT instead create new records by printing native stored electronic files, then scanning and re-printing these newly scanned prints only to reproduce them in again in electronic production.

EMAIL RECORDS

Please provide any and all email records in NATIVE .pst or .pdf PORTFOLIO electronic format with the most records possible per file and intallment.

FEES

In the event that there are fees, please inform us of the total charges in advance of fulfilling the request in strict compliance with all provisions of the Washington State Public Records Act.

EXEMPTION LOGS

Please ensure all redactions or exemptions claimed by your agency in the production of responsive records are accompanied by a complete and detailed exemption log noting the valid legal reason for each exemption at each redaction location in the record produced, as well as the specific number of pages if any that your agency redacts or withholds in their entirety. Each redaction should be noted by footnote or by a clear reference to the specific justification for that redaction, and only the minimal exempt portion of any record may be withheld.

COMMERCIAL PURPOSE DECLARATION

The Washington State Public Records Act prohibits the disclosure of “lists of individuals” for a commercial purpose (RCW 42.56.070(8)). I declare this public records request is not being made for any commercial purpose whatsoever. Also, this public records request is not being made for a "list of individuals." This declaration satisfies all requirements of RCW 42.56 regarding prohibitions on lists and commercial purposes. No additional commercial purpose declaration will be completed for this public records request.

COMMUNICATION VIA EMAIL

Please send all requests for clarification, status updates, and production of responsive electronic documents via email reply.

The requested documents will be made available to the general public.

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

Good Luck.

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Per District Procedure No. 4040P and RCW 42.56.120, the costs for producing copies of records in electronic format include the following:

Cost for Electronic Records

1. Ten cents per page for public records scanned into an electronic format or for the use of District equipment to scan the records;
2. Five cents per each four electronic files or attachment uploaded to email, cloud-based data storage service, or other means of electronic delivery;
3. Ten cents per gigabyte for the transmission of public records in an electronic format or for the use of District equipment to send the records electronically; and
4. The actual cost of any digital storage media or device provided by the District, the actual cost of any container or envelope used to mail the copies to the requestor, and the actual postage or delivery charge. ​

Consistent with Procedure 4040P and RCW 42.56.120, the District may require a 10 percent deposit of the estimated cost of the requested records.

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We are still searching for responsive records, so we are unable to provide you with information about applicable copying and deposit charges at this time. We will follow-up when we have completed our search. We currently anticipate being able to provide you with an installment of responsive records on or around April 30, 2024, subject to our timely receipt of any required deposit and copying charges. Please note that this initial estimate is necessarily rough since we have not yet finished our search for records.

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If you wish to discuss your records request by phone, I can be reached at 425-408-7721. We look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

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JoLynn Berge
Public Records Officer

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Elaine Gisle
Administrative Assistant to the Chief Leadership and Strategy Officer
Northshore School District | Phone: 425.408.7621