Business Insider August 25 2022 public records request
| Submitted | Aug. 25, 2022 |
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Communications
From: Insider Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the Virginia Freedom of Information Act, I hereby request the following records:
-All separation agreements and settlements reached with current and former teachers who taught in the district between January 1, 2017 through the day this request is fulfilled.
-All public records relating to any and all claims of misconduct against current and former teachers who taught in the district between January 1, 2017 through the day this request is fulfilled. Such public records should include, but not be limited to, all complaints; allegations; claims; investigatory reports; analyses; summaries; memoranda and/or notes; interview recordings; transcripts and/or notes; reviews; emails, text or other electronic messages, voicemails, and/or other communications and/or correspondence; determinations; decisions; orders; resignation letters; employment reclassification documents; offers in compromise and/or settlement agreements; termination and/or transfer papers; letters of reproval and/or other disciplinary actions, whether imposed or not; referrals to law enforcement, administrative, and/or licensing agencies, departments, and/or bodies; appeals; court filings and/or rulings; and all similar materials notwithstanding the use of other terminology, nomenclature, or categorization by this or other involved public agencies.
To further clarify this request, the scope of the misconduct at issue arises from, relates to, and/or is a consequence of sexual behavior and/or activities with district students, whether currently or previously enrolled, and notwithstanding whether any such behavior and/or activities were proven to have occurred or not. The construction of this request should be understood to be liberal and expansive, such that all public records which may be remotely responsive should be produced in full and may only be withheld and/or redacted only as required by law.
I would like these records in the electronic format that they are stored in, transmitted via email or other digital method; please refrain from sending paper copies of the records.
Rather than provide all responsive records at once, I ask that you provide copies of records on a rolling basis, as they become available.
If you determine that any of the information qualifies for an exemption from disclosure, I ask you to note whether the exemption is discretionary, and if so whether it is necessary in this case to exercise your discretion to withhold the information. In any event, please provide a signed notification citing the legal authorities on which you rely if you determine that any of the information is exempt and will not be disclosed.
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 Insider Staff.
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Virginia Freedom of Information Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on Aug. 25, 2022. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Chesapeake Public Schools
Good morning,
I have received your request and shared it with our FOIA officer for
processing.
Sincerely,
Angie Smith
Angie Smith Ed.D.
Chief of Staff | Clerk of the Board
Chesapeake Public Schools
<http://facebook.com/cpschoolsva> <http://twitter.com/cpschoolsva>
<http://youtube.com/channel/UCHi4rl8n9OwbpEziIvZC5Mw>
<https://goo.gl/maps/w4NChF2quT7UufTs9>
Phone 757-547-1047 Fax 757-547-1096
Address 312 Cedar Road, Chesapeake, VA 23322
Website cpschools.com
--
******** Confidentiality Statement: This electronic message and attachments
are intended only for the use of the addressee and may contain confidential
or privileged information. Receipt of this transmission by any person other
than the intended recipient does not constitute permission to examine,
copy, or distribute the accompanying material. If you received this
electronic message in error, please notify the sender of the message. All
email correspondence to and from this address is subject to the
Commonwealth of Virginia's Records Retention Laws, which may result in
monitoring and disclosure to third parties, including law enforcement.
********
From: Chesapeake Public Schools
September 2, 2022
Tom Nash
Muck Rock News
Dear Mr. Nash:
Chesapeake Public Schools has received your August 25, 2022 records request
which, we believe, can be accurately summarized as seeking records of
misconduct related to sexual behavior or activity between teachers and
students. Our School Division policies strictly prohibit any such
misconduct. Any record of such activity would be retained by the School
Division in the relevant employee’s personnel file and thus be exempt from
production under Section 2.2-3705.1 of the Code of Virginia, also referred
to as Virginia Freedom of Information Act. Generally, our School Division
does not disclose exempt personnel records.
Sincerely,
Christopher H. Vail, Ed. D.
Director of Communications
FOIA Officer
Chesapeake Public Schools
FOIA Office
312 Cedar Road
Chesapeake, VA 23322
September 1, 2022
This is a follow up to a previous request:
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Virginia Freedom of Information Act
request, copied below, and originally submitted on Aug. 25, 2022. Please
let me know when I can expect to receive a response.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
View request history, upload responsive documents, and report problems here:
https://www.muckrock.com/
If prompted for a passcode, please enter:
••••••••
Filed via MuckRock.com
E-mail (Preferred): requests@muckrock.com
PLEASE NOTE OUR NEW ADDRESS
For mailed responses, please address (see note):
MuckRock News
DEPT MR 133010
263 Huntington Ave
Boston, MA 02115
--
Christopher H. Vail, Ed. D.
Director of Communications
Chesapeake Public Schools
<http://www.facebook.com/cpschoolsva/> <http://twitter.com/cpschoolsva>
<http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHi4rl8n9OwbpEziIvZC5Mw>
@@http://www.google.com/maps/place/Chesapeake+Public+Schools+Print+Shop/@36.7119572,-76.2396501,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x89babbcc0cd56d6b:0xe5e8b761bf0e9f1b!8m2!3d36.7119529!4d-76.2374614?shorturl=1@@
757-547-1033
cpschools.com <https://cpschools.com/>
--
******** Confidentiality Statement: This electronic message and attachments
are intended only for the use of the addressee and may contain confidential
or privileged information. Receipt of this transmission by any person other
than the intended recipient does not constitute permission to examine,
copy, or distribute the accompanying material. If you received this
electronic message in error, please notify the sender of the message. All
email correspondence to and from this address is subject to the
Commonwealth of Virginia's Records Retention Laws, which may result in
monitoring and disclosure to third parties, including law enforcement.
********
From: Insider Staff
Good afternoon,
Thank you for the update. I've consulted with an attorney, and it appears you have misunderstood both the scope of my request as well as the exemption you cite as the basis for denial. I'm hopeful that we can resolve this matter without seeking a judicial remedy through the courts.
First, separation and settlement agreements are not, as you claim, part of an employee's personnel file. I've requested these same agreements from dozens of other school districts across the state, and none have kept the agreements in an employee's personnel file or deemed them segregated as such. Can you reply to this email to confirm your understanding that separation and settlement agreements with employees are a matter of public record?
Second, while it is true that §2.2-3705.1 does allow agencies to exempt certain portions of an employee's personnel file, none of the exemptions in state statute apply to matters regarding sexual abuse and/or misconduct. Indeed, given the district's immense obligation to ensure student safety, other school districts in Virginia have released such public records. I can only assume that Chesapeake Public Schools values student safety, as well.
Please advise.
From: Chesapeake Public Schools
Good afternoon,
We respectfully disagree with your position on the requirements and
application of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
Initially, a public employer may make reasonable decisions on what
documents regarding its employees may be kept in a personnel file. The
Legislature has provided that a public employee’s contract with a public
body may not be excluded from a FOIA request, but to the contrary, the
Legislature has provided that a contract settling a public employee’s
employment dispute may be kept confidential. See highlighted excerpt from
Virginia Code Section 2.2-3705.1 below. Our referencing this section does
*not* signify that we have any contracts settling public employee disputes
that would be responsive to your FOIA request, only that we are noting the
applicable law.
No provision of this chapter or any provision of Chapter 38 (§ 2.2-3800
<https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/2.2-3800/> et seq.) shall be construed
as denying public access to (i) contracts between a public body and its
officers or employees, other than contracts settling public employee
employment disputes held confidential as personnel records under §
2.2-3705.1 <https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/2.2-3705.1/>.
Further, the Chesapeake Public Schools respects the decisions of other
Virginia school divisions but is by no means bound by them. As you know,
many types of disclosures under the FOIA are permissive but not required.
We consider each FOIA request first with respect to our legal obligation to
disclose responsive documents, and if we conclude that a response is
discretionary in whole or in part, only then may we consider other factors.
Sincerely,
Christopher Vail, Ed.D.
Director of Communications
--
Christopher H. Vail, Ed. D.
Director of Communications
Chesapeake Public Schools
<http://www.facebook.com/cpschoolsva/> <http://twitter.com/cpschoolsva>
<http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHi4rl8n9OwbpEziIvZC5Mw>
@@http://www.google.com/maps/place/Chesapeake+Public+Schools+Print+Shop/@36.7119572,-76.2396501,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x89babbcc0cd56d6b:0xe5e8b761bf0e9f1b!8m2!3d36.7119529!4d-76.2374614?shorturl=1@@
757-547-1033
cpschools.com <https://cpschools.com/>
--
******** Confidentiality Statement: This electronic message and attachments
are intended only for the use of the addressee and may contain confidential
or privileged information. Receipt of this transmission by any person other
than the intended recipient does not constitute permission to examine,
copy, or distribute the accompanying material. If you received this
electronic message in error, please notify the sender of the message. All
email correspondence to and from this address is subject to the
Commonwealth of Virginia's Records Retention Laws, which may result in
monitoring and disclosure to third parties, including law enforcement.
********
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