NorthShore School District – Request for a complete electronic copy of all Public Records Requests received by the District including District Responses for the years 2015 - 2021

PRA Audit
Thank you for your interest in public records of the Northshore School District.  Your request has been received and is being processed.  Your request was received in this office on November 04, 2021 and given the reference number N000395-110421 for tracking purposes. To Whom It May Concern:

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

I request a complete electronic copy of all Public Records Requests received by NorthShore School District and a complete electronic copy of the District's Responses to these Public Records Requests for the time period January 1, 2010 through November 4, 2021.

In the event the District chooses to provide these records in installments over time I request the records to be produced in reverse chronological order - from the most recent records to the earliest.

If this request is denied in whole or part, I ask that you justify all deletions by reference to specific exemptions of the PRA. I also request a detailed contemporaneous log to be provided for any document withheld or redacted.

For each responsive record the District contends is exempt from public disclosure, in whole or in part, please specifically identify the record by subject, title, author, custodian and date, and state how a specific statutory exemption applies to each record as required by RCW 42.56.210(3) and Rental Housing Ass'n v. Des Moines, 165 Wn.2d 525, 199 P.3d 393 (2009).

I request electronic production of all electronic records in the original NATIVE electronic format for each record.

I request for these public records to be produced by public (no password) e-mail attachment or link. If electronic attachment or link is not possible, an alternative would be to produce responsive records via USB DRIVE or DATA CD-ROM.

THIS REQUEST IS NOT BEING MADE FOR COMMERCIAL PURPOSES.

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

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.

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,

PRA Audit

Upload documents directly: https://www.muckrock.com/
Your request will be forwarded to the relevant District department(s) to locate the information you seek and to determine the volume and any costs associated with satisfying your request. You will be provided with copies of the records requested, or provided with an estimate of when the requested records will be located and made available.

You can monitor the progress of your request at the link below and you'll receive an email when your request has been completed.   Again, thank you for using the Northshore School District's Public Records Center.
-Northshore School District

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11/08/2021 Sent via email: requests@muckrock.com PRA Audit Re: Public Records Request dated 11/4/2021 Dear PRA Audit, Northshore School District (“District”) received your public records request on November 5, 2021. Your request seeks all public records requests received by the District from January 1, 2010 through November 4, 2021, as well as a complete electronic copy of the District’s responses to those requests. You have requested “electronic production of all electronic records in the original NATIVE format for each record.” The vast majority of records the District has disclosed in response to public records requests since 2010 have not been produced in native format, and instead were produced in formats such as .pdf or hard-copy. And as noted earlier, you have requested “a complete electronic copy of the District’s Responses” to public records requests during the time period in question, and such responses typically did not contain native format records. In light of this conflict, the District interprets your request as seeking the District’s previous disclosure communications in their native format when they were sent electronically, recognizing that those disclosure communications will often contain non-native files. For example, the District would produce to you the native format email of its response to a given public records request, which may include attached responsive records in pdf format that were actually produced to a requestor. Please let me know if you disagree with this interpretation of your request. Next, please be aware that the District may no longer possess copies of older public records requests and/or District responses. In that event, the District would be unable to disclose copies of such requests and responses. Our initial review suggests that the District retains such records dating back approximately three to four years. Per RCW 42.56.120, the District charges the following fees for copies of records: 1. Fifteen cents per page for photocopies of public records, printed copies of electronic public records when requested by the person requesting records, or for the use of agency equipment to photocopy public records; 2. Ten cents per page for public records scanned into an electronic format or for the use of District equipment to scan the records; 3. Five cents per each four electronic files or attachment uploaded to email, cloud-based data storage service, or other means of electronic delivery; 4. 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 5. 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. Any applicable copying costs must be received by the District before the District discloses records. Additionally, RCW 42.56.120 authorizes the District to require a deposit of up to ten percent of the total estimated costs of providing copies for a request. The District has not yet had an opportunity to determine how many responsive records there will be, or what the total estimated cost of fulfilling the request will be. Prior to providing a first installment of records for this request, we will contact you to let you know the total estimated cost and the deposit amount due. Following receipt of the deposit, the District will require payment of any applicable copying costs before producing installments. At this time, the District estimates that it will be able to disclose an initial installment of records by Monday, February 28, 2022. If you have any questions I can be reached at 425-408-7605. Sincerely, Doug Hale Executive Director of Human Resources

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1/24/2022 Sent via email: requests@muckrock.com PRA Audit
Re: Public Records Request dated 11/4/2021 Dear PRA Audit: In our letter to you on 11/8/2021 we communicated we would get back to you about the cost of requesting these records after we conduct our search for record totals. The Public Records Act  authorizes the District to charge requestors for the copying costs for a public record request, including, but not limited to, the following: (ii) Ten cents per page for public records scanned into an electronic format or for the use of agency equipment to scan the records; (iii) Five cents per each four electronic files or attachment uploaded to email, cloud-based data storage service, or other means of electronic delivery; and (iv) Ten cents per gigabyte for the transmission of public records in an electronic format or for the use of agency equipment to send the records electronically. The agency shall take reasonable steps to provide the records in the most efficient manner available to the agency in its normal operations; and (v) The actual cost of any digital storage media or device provided by the agency, the actual cost of any container or envelope used to mail the copies to the requestor, and the actual postage or delivery charge. RCW 42.56.120(2). Based on our initial search, we have identified the responsive records. Pursuant to RCW 42.56.120(2), the District is thus authorized to charge $784.25 for the costs of providing responsive records to you. The applicable costs for a particular installment must be paid to the District prior to the District providing that installment of records; we will thus notify you of an installment’s costs before providing you with an installment. Additionally, the Public Records Act authorizes the District to require a deposit in an amount not to exceed ten percent of the estimated cost of providing copies for a request, pursuant to RCW 42.56.120(4). As a result the District will begin processing your request upon receipt of a $78.43 deposit. Please contact me to make arrangements to pay the deposit. If you have any questions I can be reached at 425-408-76 05. Sincerely, Doug Hale
Executive Director of Human Resources
Public Records Officer

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02/04/2022 Sent via email: requests@muckrock.com PRA Audit Re: Public Records Request dated 11/4/2021 Dear PRA Audit: The District is in receipt of the response you provided to the cost estimate associated with your public records request. Your response is as follows: Hello Mr. Hale, Thank you for your message including the initial estimated cost of producing responsive records. I have some questions regarding your fee estimate of $784.25. Please provide a detailed summary of your $784.25 public records fee estimate: 1. How many pages of responsive documents need to be scanned @ .10 cents per page? Please identify each public records request containing pages that require scanning including a description of the records being sought, the identity of the requestor, the location of the responsive pages needed to be scanned, the specific date each request was opened, and the specific date the request was closed. 2. How many records are available to be attached and uploaded to email, cloud-based data storage service, or other means of electronic delivery @ .05 cents per (4) attached records? What is the file type of each record as well as the size of each record in megabytes? As with any scanned pages, please identify each public records request containing records available for electronic attachment including a description of the records being sought, the identity of the requestor, the location of the electronic records available to be attached, the specific date each request was opened, and the specific date each request was closed. Complete answers to these questions regarding your fee calculations would be very helpful. Thank you. Upload documents directly: https://www.muckrock.com/ In order to arrive at the cost estimate we provided to you, we took the steps necessary to inventory all of our public record requests in order to determine the format they reside in. Below you will see a summary of the categories and applicable costs associated with each category. After consulting RCW 42.56.120(2)(f), we believe this information satisfies the law and is responsive to your request. Lastly, since the District owns the responsibility of complying with the Public Records Act we will continue to use our portal to provide information to you as it relates to your request. Electronic records: 25,886 * .0125 = $323.58 Scanned records: 604 *.10 = $60.40 Paper records: 400 * .10 = $400 Videos: 22 * .0125 = $0.275 Total $ 784.25 If you wish to discuss your records request by phone, I can be reached at 425-408-7605. On January 24,2022 we sent you the following message: Pursuant to RCW 42.56.120(2), the District is thus authorized to charge $784.25 for the costs of providing responsive records to you. The applicable costs for a particular installment must be paid to the District prior to the District providing that installment of records; we will thus notify you of an installment’s costs before providing you with an installment. Additionally, the Public Records Act authorizes the District to require a deposit in an amount not to exceed ten percent of the estimated cost of providing copies for a request, pursuant to RCW 42.56.120(4). As a result the District will begin processing your request upon receipt of a $78.43 deposit. Please contact me to make arrangements to pay the deposit.    If we do not hear from you by Monday, March 7, 2022, your records request will be closed and we will provide no further response.  We look forward to hearing from you. Sincerely, Doug Hale
Executive Director of Human Resources
Public Records Officer

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2/28/2022 Sent via email: requests@muckrock.com PRA Audit Re: Public Records Request dated 11/4/2021 Dear PRA Audit: In your last communication with us you asked "w hat is the fee requirement for production of the 1st installment of records to be produced via electronic link in REVERSE chronological order as per the original public records request?
The Public Records Act authorizes the District to require a deposit in an amount not to exceed ten percent of the estimated cost of providing copies for a request, pursuant to RCW 42.56.120(4). As a result the District will not begin processing your request until we are in receipt of a $78.43 deposit.  Once we receive your deposit, we will then begin the process of examining your request and making a determination of how we want to proceed based on what makes the most sense to us based on the data we have that we feel is responsive to your request.
Secondly, you are requesting that the district upload the information to you directly.  The district owns the liability associated with the Public Records Act, and therefore we need to employ the systems and tools we have in place to manage the requests we receive.  We cannot customize how we respond to requests for fear of missing important dates or timelines.  We will use our GovQA portal for the communication of all information once we have received your deposit and started our process of searching for responsive records. If you have any questions please contact me at 425.408.7605. Doug Hale Executive Director of Human Resources Public Records Officer Public Records Officer

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03/08/2022 Sent via email: requests@muckrock.com PRA Audit Re: Public Records Request dated 11/4/2021 Dear PRA Audit: I received your following message on March 3, 2022: SECOND REQUEST FOR DETAILED SUMMARY OF APPLICABLE CHARGES RCW 42.56.120 (2)(f) A requestor may ask an agency to provide, and if requested an agency shall provide, a summary of the applicable charges before any copies are made and the requestor may revise the request to reduce the number of copies to be made and reduce the applicable charges. To address your question about a summary of applicable charges, we sent you the following cost information on February 2, 2022. Please note, the original estimate included a typo of 400 paper pages, when it should have read 4000 pages; the calculation of $400 still stands as accurate.: In order to arrive at the cost estimate we provided to you, we took the steps necessary to inventory all of our public record requests in order to determine the format they reside in. Below you will see a summary of the categories and applicable costs associated with each category. After consulting RCW 42.56.120(2)(f), we believe this information satisfies the law and is responsive to your request. SUMMARY of applicable charges: Electronic records: 25,886 * .0125 = $323.58 Scanned records: 604 *.10 = $60.40 Paper records: 4000 * .10 = $400 Videos: 22 * .0125 = $0.275 Total $ 784.25 Pursuant to RCW 42.56.120(2), the District is thus authorized to charge $784.25 for the costs of providing responsive records to you.  Additionally, the Public Records Act authorizes the District to require a deposit in an amount not to exceed ten percent of the estimated cost of providing copies for a request, pursuant to RCW 42.56.120(4). As a result the District will begin processing your request upon receipt of a $78.43 deposit. Please contact me to make arrangements to pay the deposit. Second request: please provide a detailed fee requirement estimate for the production of the first installment of records originally requested to be produced via electronic link in REVERSE chronological order. Please provide a description of the records to be produced, attachment count and digital size, as well as the digital file format of the records to be produced. When we receive your deposit we will begin assembling the first installment, and it will not be until such time that we will have the applicable cost information.  At the time of release I will notify you of the cost of that installment and the balance of your deposit that remains. We also wish to notify you that upon examination of the records  in our possession that pertain to your request, we will be able to process the records in reverse chronological order. OBJECTION TO GOVQA PORTAL: You are of course free to utilize your GOVQA portal. However as a public records requestor I am under no such obligation, and as such I decline. The District is directed to provide these public records via direct no-password, no registration, internet file sharing link. If this is not possible, then responsive records can be provided via US MAIL
We will continue to communicate through the GovQA Portal send you installments through mail file, which will provide you a link to download records with no password or log in required. and
If you wish to discuss your records request by phone, I can be reached at 425-408-7605.  If we do not hear from you by April 7, 2022, your records request will be closed and we will provide no further response.  We look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Doug Hale
Executive Director of Human Resources
Public Records Officer

To monitor the progress or update this request please log into the Northshore SD Public Records Center (https://u8387795.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn=nZGH0ylxadMp5hTpNkeAFs2esdYSu22BMM0rZQ-2BDsJO9L8pQLccgbku0ME1ZYKYjzUFnsESk5cotEkB6W1eLfQ0Sy28aynKYANC9s78iYOEsDpidHZB-2F-2B1D5oMn3Ej8T0H8i_xa742gBmK8-2BGdWQIF-2FMndxsLn2vWiRiDmOuDnHmE7BQ6XU3KsekJK7vmh5I7Wmq50BmkFy5t8DtC6TFxO6Cr9h-2FoFT9YfqB1KjnAeUWX7WYxLBPpqpmir-2BGANOMmLQR2oLsi9GzYJPcGZTpBqDY1gxS1nFynmu-2Bjlw0Z6RSvduVl3T8R-2FkDYebDJoxXJMSrMGiOJ7wI-2BvUAhSr1rO-2FYYiFP3uVUefe2sdSuDIfX1AD28buWXjqQhhHDti7QoS1PAzwJffUc6uDFfcyIPjARZxUdVsECS7QPmDVxYmrmq-2FX-2FJiGeuEKt0E6qSkkOVuBJuckIMY1iRxEw99uSID7nPOFKOSMgqn9LZx-2FdbqcfGWs2erLci1X-2BDB-2BWcxfqFoPaK9cEbrd4S1QDtyHfLKx-2FZyQ-3D-3D)

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03/16/2022 Sent via email: requests@muckrock.com PRA Audit Re:  Public Records Request dated 11/4/2021 Dear PRA Audit: The purpose of this letter is to address the two questions you sent to us in your March 15 communication. Are all responsive records going to be produced in a single installment? *We are anticipating that our response to your public records request will encompass multiple installments. If not, please provide a detailed fee estimate with page and attachment counts for the 1st Installment of records to be produced. *As we have stated previously, we will not begin working on your request until we have received the deposit pursuant to what is allowable under the Public Records Act. We do not have a cost or page estimate for the first installment yet, and we will provide the cost of each installment as they are processed. Below is the summary of costs included, again, for your convenience. SUMMARY of applicable charges: Electronic records: 25,886 * .0125 = $323.58 Scanned records: 604 *.10 = $60.40 Paper records: 4000 * .10 = $400 Videos: 22 * .0125 = $0.275 Total $ 784.25 Deposit due before work begins $78.42 Please contact me to arrange payment. If you have any questions I can be reached at 425-408-7605. Sincerely, Doug Hale
Executive Director of Human Resources
Public Records Officer

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03/21/2022 Sent via email: requests@muckrock.com PRA Audit Re: Public Records Request dated 11/4/2021 Dear PRA Audit: We have carefully reviewed the relevant legal authorities and have concluded that we may require payment of a 10% deposit for the copying charges for the entire public records request. RCW 42.56.120(4), the statute that authorizes a ten percent deposit, states, “An agency may require a deposit in an amount not to exceed ten percent of the estimated cost of providing copies for a request, including a customized service charge.” The statute in no way prohibits an agency from requiring a deposit for the entire request to be paid upfront, and does not require that a deposit can only be charged for each installment. The WACs promulgated by the Attorney General’s Office expre ssly support this inte rpretation: (1) Copying deposit. An agency may charge a deposit of up to ten percent of the estimated copying costs of an entire request, including a customized service charge, before beginning to copy the records. RCW 42.56.120(4). The estimate must be reasonable. An agency can require the payment of the deposit before copying an installment of the records or the entire request. The deposit applies to the records selected for copying by the requestor, not all the records made available for inspection. An agency is not required to charge a deposit. An agency might find a deposit burdensome for small requests where the deposit might be only a few dollars. Any unused deposit must be refunded to the requestor. When copying is completed, the agency can require the payment of the remainder of the copying charges before providing the records. For example, a requestor makes a request for records that comprise one box of paper documents. The requestor selects the entire box for copying. The agency estimates that the box contains three thousand pages of records. The agency charges fifteen cents per page so the cost would be three hundred fifty dollars. The agency obtains a ten percent deposit of thirty-five dollars and then begins to copy the records. The total number of pages turns out to be two thousand nine hundred so the total cost is two hundred ninety dollars. The thirty-five dollar deposit is credited to the two hundred ninety dollars. The agency requires payment of the remaining amount before providing the records to the requestor. (2) Copying charges for each installment. If an agency provides records in installments, the agency may charge and collect all applicable copying fees (not just the ten percent deposit) for each installment, unless the agency is assessing a two-dollar flat fee. RCW 42.56.120. The agency may agree to provide an installment without first receiving payment for that installment. WAC 44-14-07006 (emphasis added). See also WAC 44-14-070(5) (“Before beginning to make the copies or processing a customized service, the public records officer or designee may require a deposit of up to ten percent of the estimated costs of copying all the records selected by the requestor”) (emphasis added). We have not identified any case law rebutting the shared position of the Northshore School District and the Attorney General’s Office described above. That said, if you are aware of any such case law, we would be happy to review it. Finally, as mentioned in our earlier communications, once we have received the required deposit of $78.42, we will assemble a first installment. Once we have assembled the installment, we will be able to give you a summary of the charges specifically applicable to that installment. Sincerely, Doug Hale
Executive Director of Human Resources
Public Records Officer

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04/12/2022 Sent via email: requests@muckrock.com
PRA Audit Re:  Public Records Request dated 11/4/2021
Dear PRA Audit:
The purpose of this letter is to let you know we have not heard from you regarding your deposit payment. In our February 4, 2022 letter, we communicated we would close your request if we did not hear from you. In our March 8, 2022 letter to you we communicated that we would close your request if we did not hear from you by April 7, 2022. It is April 12, 2022 and we are notifying you that we will close your request as of April 22, 2022 if we do not receive the deposit. If we close the request we will adhere to the CORE retention schedule and many of your requested records will be deleted.
If you have any questions I can be reached at 425-408-7605.
Sincerely,
Doug Hale
Executive Director of Human Resources
Public Records Officer

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04/22/2022 Sent via email: requests@muckrock.com
PRA Audit Re:  Public Records Request dated 11/4/2021
Dear PRA Audit:
The purpose of this letter is to let you know we still have not heard from you. In our April 12 letter to you we communicated we were going to give you and additional time to get back to us, you still have not responded. We are closing your public record request dated 11/4/2021.
If you have any questions I can be reached at 425-408-7605.
Sincerely,
Doug Hale
Executive Director of Human Resources
Public Records Officer