Non-discrimination policies

Dear Ms. Raih,

On April 11, 2017, we received your request for public records.

Your specific request is as follows:

Pursuant to the Missouri Sunshine Law and the Missouri Public Records Law, I hereby request the following records:

Any and all written documents that include, but are not limited to, policies, procedures, training manuals, talking points and slideshows that include the topic of non-discrimination or anti-bullying policies regarding LGBT identified students. This includes, but is not limited to, policies on the use of restroom and locker room facilities. Please limit this request to documents that were generated over the past two years as well as documents, such as policies, that are in effect now.

Any and all communications or questions requested from education institutions regarding the Department of Justice’ 2016 Joint Guidance on Transgender Students (“Dear Colleague Letter”) or Trump’s 2017 “Dear Colleague Letter”. For reference, these letters are available at the following URLs respectively: https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/letters/colleague-201605-title-ix-transgender.pdf https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/941551/download

Any and all records, reports or documents sent to districts that regard student sexual health education.

Finally, I request any and all memos, letters, policies and guidelines sent to schools in the last five years that outline policies regarding transgender or gender non-conforming students. This includes, but is not limited to, the use of restroom and locker room facilities.
Please understand that because of the large number of requests for public records, the potential size of the public records that must be identified, gathered and copied, it will take our agency at least two (2) months to provide the requested records to you. In addition, the Missouri Sunshine Law does permit our agency to charge a fee to provide these records to you. We will communicate that fee to you once we have determined the amount of the fee, and we will request that the fee is paid before we will provide the records.

If you have questions, please contact me.

Respectfully,

William R. Thornton
Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Office of General Counsel / Governmental Affairs
PO Box 480
Jefferson City, MO 65102-0480
Phone: (573) 751-3527
Fax: (573) 751-4881
PRIVILEGED COMMUNICATION: This document may contain privileged Attorney/Client Communication and/or Attorney Work Product protected from discovery and should not be disclosed except as specifically authorized in the preparation or disposition of this matter. If you are the intended recipient of this transmission, be advised that its use is restricted by law and for the purpose stated herein. If you are not the intended recipient of this transmission, take notice that any reviewing, use, dissemination, or copying of the information transmitted herewith is strictly prohibited. If you have received this transmission in error, please return it to the sender and delete all copies from your system.

Ms. Raih,

Thank you for your response and willingness to modify your request to cut down on the time and cost of your request.

Unfortunately, the change that you proposed will not have a significant impact on reducing the time or the cost to search for public records that are responsive, gather and provide them to you.

Respectfully,
William R. Thornton
Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Office of General Counsel / Governmental Affairs
PO Box 480
Jefferson City, MO 65102-0480
Phone: (573) 751-3527
Fax: (573) 751-4881
PRIVILEGED COMMUNICATION: This document may contain privileged Attorney/Client Communication and/or Attorney Work Product protected from discovery and should not be disclosed except as specifically authorized in the preparation or disposition of this matter. If you are the intended recipient of this transmission, be advised that its use is restricted by law and for the purpose stated herein. If you are not the intended recipient of this transmission, take notice that any reviewing, use, dissemination, or copying of the information transmitted herewith is strictly prohibited. If you have received this transmission in error, please return it to the sender and delete all copies from your system.

Hello Ms. Raih,

While searching for records that are responsive to your Sunshine Law request, we identified a particularly large set of records. We would like to work with you to identify an approach to your request that will minimize staff time and, ultimately, the cost to you of acquiring the records. Would you be willing to forward us a phone number at which we can reach you? Alternatively, you can reach us at 573-522-3481.

Governmental Affairs | Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education<http://dese.mo.gov/> | P.O. Box 480 Jefferson City, MO 65102 | (573) 751-3527

Ms. Raih,

Thank you for taking the time to speak with our team last week. We believe that was vital in understanding your request for public records.

We are in the process of conducting a records search pursuant to your request. We estimate that it will take at least three to four weeks to determine the number of public records that we have that are responsive to your request and then to gather and prepare those records for you.

The Missouri Sunshine Law does permit us to charge a fee for fulfilling your request. Once we have determined the fee for processing any responsive records, we need confirmation that you are willing to pay the requested fee.

If you have any questions, please let us know.

Respectfully,
William R. Thornton
Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Office of General Counsel / Governmental Affairs
PO Box 480
Jefferson City, MO 65102-0480
Phone: (573) 751-3527
Fax: (573) 751-4881
PRIVILEGED COMMUNICATION: This document may contain privileged Attorney/Client Communication and/or Attorney Work Product protected from discovery and should not be disclosed except as specifically authorized in the preparation or disposition of this matter. If you are the intended recipient of this transmission, be advised that its use is restricted by law and for the purpose stated herein. If you are not the intended recipient of this transmission, take notice that any reviewing, use, dissemination, or copying of the information transmitted herewith is strictly prohibited. If you have received this transmission in error, please return it to the sender and delete all copies from your system.

Ms. Raih,

Our staff has completed the records search pursuant to your Sunshine Law request.

The Missouri Sunshine Law-Chapter 610, RSMo permits our agency to charge a fee for the staff time to provide public records. We estimate it will require 19.5 hours of staff time to process and provide the public records that we believe are responsive to your request. This will result in a fee of $308.10. We will await confirmation that you are willing to pay this fee before processing the documents. Upon your confirmation, we will process the records and will respond with the requisite payment information within five business days. Please note that we require payment before we will release the records.

Respectfully,

William R. Thornton
Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Office of General Counsel / Governmental Affairs
PO Box 480
Jefferson City, MO 65102-0480
Phone: (573) 751-3527
Fax: (573) 751-4881
PRIVILEGED COMMUNICATION: This document may contain privileged Attorney/Client Communication and/or Attorney Work Product protected from discovery and should not be disclosed except as specifically authorized in the preparation or disposition of this matter. If you are the intended recipient of this transmission, be advised that its use is restricted by law and for the purpose stated herein. If you are not the intended recipient of this transmission, take notice that any reviewing, use, dissemination, or copying of the information transmitted herewith is strictly prohibited. If you have received this transmission in error, please return it to the sender and delete all copies from your system.