FOIL Request for Records Related to Communications with American Academy of Pediatrics and Council on School Health (Bethlehem Central School District, Delmar)

To Whom It May Concern:

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

I am seeking all records related to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the Council on School Health (COSH), including any communications or correspondence between the school district and these organizations, or any other party that may have provided information to the district from these organizations.

To help identify responsive records, you can limit your time period to 1/1/2017 until the date of final response; also I request that you search for the following terms, which are focused on the American Academy of Pediatrics and its affiliated organizations:

"American Academy of Pediatrics"
"AAP"
"Council on School Health"
"COSH"
"pediatric"
"child health"
"school health"

Please include records of any type, including but not limited to emails, letters, memoranda, reports, meeting minutes, presentations, and any other records of communication or correspondence between the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Council on School Health, and the school district or any other party that may have provided information to the district from these organizations.

If no records are responsive to this request, please provide a certification of that fact pursuant to Public Officers Law §89(3), and inform me of the district's obligations under LGS-01 to retain records until any appeal has been resolved.

If any records are withheld, please provide an explanation of the legal basis for the withholding.

If my request is denied in whole or in part, please provide a written explanation of the reasons for the denial.

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,

Jackson Parker

I appreciate the effort in conducting a search for responsive documents related to my request. I understand that the current search yielded several thousand emails that match the search terms I provided. To assist in reducing the volume of documents and the associated time required for review, I would like to revise and narrow my request as follows:

Please limit the search to correspondence involving the following individuals or roles within the District:
a. Board members
b. Superintendent
c. Assistant Superintendents
d. District Clerk
e. All administrative staff (excluding teachers)

Exclude mass emails and newsletters that are sent to the general public or large groups of recipients. Instead, focus on communications that reference the following organizations, communications directly between the school district and these organizations, or communications where information from these organizations is shared, either through messages or attachments:
a. "American Academy of Pediatrics"
b. "AAP"
c. "Council on School Health"
d. "COSH"

Dear Superintendent,

I am writing to appeal the constructive denial of my Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request submitted on March 6, 2023, to the Bethlehem Central School District, Delmar. The request sought records related to communications with the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Council on School Health.

The district acknowledged receipt of my request on March 13, 2023, and asked for a refinement of the search on May 1, 2023. I promptly responded with a revised request on May 7, 2023. However, despite my follow-up communications on May 22, 2023, and June 6, 2023, I have not received any further response or the requested records.

Under the New York Public Officers Law §89(4)(a), an agency has five business days to grant or deny access in whole or in part, or if more time is needed, to acknowledge the receipt of a request in writing and provide a date and location by which the agency will respond. As of the date of this letter, the statutory timeline for response has been exceeded without the provision of the requested records or a valid reason for delay.

I kindly request that you review this matter and ensure the provision of the requested records without further delay. If my appeal is denied, I request a written explanation for the denial.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.