| Obion County Board of Education |
Agenda Item: VI.K. |
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Background Information: In mid-July, I received a letter from Chuck Cagle, legal counsel for the Tennessee Organization of School Superintendents, concerning our open records policy. Mr. Cagle’s office has observed a sharp increase in the volume of open records requests made to school systems across the state. In response, they have modified TSBA’s model policy to address numerous issues that can cause problems during a request for open records, such as the payment of reasonable charges that the school system is permitted to require of the requestor. Without a policy that directly addresses these issues, it will be difficult to charge for labor and copying costs that are not specifically detailed in policy. The Board's current policy is attached for the Board's information. These attachments will be adopted as the administrative procedure addressing Board Policy #1.407. Under the Tennessee Open Records Act, only citizens of the State of Tennessee are entitled to obtain public records. Therefore, we have the right to deny the request of any person who lives outside the state or any corporation or business that is not located within the State of Tennessee, and cite non-residency as the sole reason for the denial.
Staff Recommendation: Due to the frequency in open records requests, I recommend approval of the above-noted amendment to Board Policy #1.407 – School Board Records, on first and final reading. |
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