FOIA: Curriculum and Related Documents (Averill Park Central School District)

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the New York Freedom of Information Law, I hereby request the following records:

The Complete K-8 Sex Education and Race/Diversity Equity Inclusion (DEI) Curriculum, including but not limited to; gender and sexuality, LGBTQ, differentiating between sexual orientation, gender identity, genitalia, reproduction, gender expression, social-emotional learning (SEL), transgender hormone treatment, the requirement to define masturbation, vaginal sex, oral sex and anal sex from the Health and/or Physical Education Departments from August-September 2020 to the date this request is fulfilled, including the 2022-2023 curriculum for elementary K-5.

This request shall also include any teachings of such curriculum mentioned above by any School District Nurse(s) employed within this district, third party contractors, consultants or other third parties invited by the school or agents of the school.

This request shall also include any documents or materials accessed by the school district, but stored on third party service providers on behalf of the district, and links/references/credentials for access to such materials if present in emails or electronic systems or files stored in browser caches, cloud storage (i.e. Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, etc), or local hard drives managed by the district.

This request shall also include any training material or supplemental information provided to district staff, whether required or suggested.

Please keep in mind, pursuant to the Retention and Disposition Schedule for New York Local Government Records (LGS-01): Any record listed in the LGS-01 Schedule for which a Freedom of Information (FOIL) request has been received should not be destroyed until that request has been answered and until any potential appeal is made and resolved, even if the retention period of the record has passed.

The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.

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,

PARENTS COALITION

Ms. Carrie Nyc-Chevrier:

Please refer to the original record request, as the responsive records provided are lacking Averill Park Central School District specific curriculum documents. The responsive records appear to be limited to a New York State Educational Guidance handbook.

Per the request sent on 5/27/2022, please include the actual documents that were used by administrators, teachers, and any other staff members that relate to the following: The Complete K-8 Sex Education and Race/Diversity Equity Inclusion (DEI) Curriculum, including but not limited to; gender and sexuality, LGBTQ, differentiating between sexual orientation, gender identity, genitalia, reproduction, gender expression, social-emotional learning (SEL), transgender hormone treatment, the requirement to define masturbation, vaginal sex, oral sex and anal sex from the Health and/or Physical Education Departments from August-September 2020 to the date this request is fulfilled, including the 2022-2023 curriculum for elementary K-5.

Specifically, Parents Coalition is seeking the specific curricular documents that were or will be used from August 2020 through the 2022-2023 school year. Such materials may need to be solicited from administrators, teachers, and/or any other staff members in order to fulfill the aforementioned FOIA request. Such documents would exist, examples being lesson plans, Google Classroom assignments, assigned reading, videos, activities, etc.

This request shall also include any teachings of such curriculum mentioned above by any School District Nurse(s) employed within this district, third party contractors, consultants or other third parties invited by the school or agents of the school.

This request shall also include any documents or materials accessed by the school district, but stored on third party service providers on behalf of the district, and links/references/credentials for access to such materials if present in emails or electronic systems or files stored in browser caches, cloud storage (i.e. Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, etc), or local hard drives managed by the district.

This request shall also include any training material or supplemental information provided to district staff, whether required or suggested.

Please keep in mind, pursuant to the Retention and Disposition Schedule for New York Local Government Records (LGS-01): Any record listed in the LGS-01 Schedule for which a Freedom of Information (FOIL) request has been received should not be destroyed until that request has been answered and until any potential appeal is made and resolved, even if the retention period of the record has passed.

The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.

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,

PARENTS COALITION

I am appealing on the grounds that Averill Park Central School District does not specifically cite where in, Public Officers Law Section 87(2)(g), they are given special privileges, which absolve them from responding to the aforementioned FOIL request.