 ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS GREG ABBOTT | |
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August 1, 2007 Mr. Dennis J. Eichelbaum OR2007-09729 Dear Mr. Eichelbaum: You ask whether certain information is subject to required public disclosure under the Public Information Act (the "Act"), chapter 552 of the Government Code. Your request was assigned ID #285263. The Cranfills Gap Independent School District (the "district"), which you represent, received a request for all information pertaining to a specified incident involving a named student. You claim that the submitted information is excepted from disclosure under sections 552.108, 552.114, and 552.135 of the Government Code. We have considered the exceptions you claim and reviewed the submitted information. The United States Department of Education Family Policy Compliance Office (the "DOE") has informed this office that the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act ("FERPA"), section 1232g of title 20 of the United States Code, does not permit state and local educational authorities to disclose to this office, without parental consent, unredacted, personally identifiable information contained in education records for the purposes of our review in the open records ruling process under the Act. (1) Consequently, state and local educational authorities that receive a request for education records from a member of the public under the Act must not submit education records to this office in unredacted form, that is, in a form in which "personally identifiable information" is disclosed. See 34 C.F.R. § 99.3 (defining "personally identifiable information"). You have submitted student handwritten statements to this office. See Open Records Decision No. 224 (1979) (student's handwritten comments protected under FERPA because they would make identity of student easily traceable through handwriting, style of expression, or particular incidents related in the comments). Because our office is prohibited from reviewing education records, we will not address the applicability of FERPA to the information at issue. (2) Such determinations under FERPA must be made by the educational authority in possession of the education record. You indicate that all of the submitted information is protected as FERPA student records. Based solely on this representation, we need not address your remaining assertions. This letter ruling is limited to the particular records at issue in this request and limited to the facts as presented to us; therefore, this ruling must not be relied upon as a previous determination regarding any other records or any other circumstances. This ruling triggers important deadlines regarding the rights and responsibilities of the governmental body and of the requestor. For example, governmental bodies are prohibited from asking the attorney general to reconsider this ruling. Gov't Code § 552.301(f). If the governmental body wants to challenge this ruling, the governmental body must appeal by filing suit in Travis County within 30 calendar days. Id. § 552.324(b). In order to get the full benefit of such an appeal, the governmental body must file suit within 10 calendar days. Id. § 552.353(b)(3), (c). If the governmental body does not appeal this ruling and the governmental body does not comply with it, then both the requestor and the attorney general have the right to file suit against the governmental body to enforce this ruling. Id. § 552.321(a). If this ruling requires the governmental body to release all or part of the requested information, the governmental body is responsible for taking the next step. Based on the statute, the attorney general expects that, upon receiving this ruling, the governmental body will either release the public records promptly pursuant to section 552.221(a) of the Government Code or file a lawsuit challenging this ruling pursuant to section 552.324 of the Government Code. If the governmental body fails to do one of these things, then the requestor should report that failure to the attorney general's Open Government Hotline, toll free, at (877) 673-6839. The requestor may also file a complaint with the district or county attorney. Id. § 552.3215(e). If this ruling requires or permits the governmental body to withhold all or some of the requested information, the requestor can appeal that decision by suing the governmental body. Id. § 552.321(a); Texas Dep't of Pub. Safety v. Gilbreath, 842 S.W.2d 408, 411 (Tex. App.--Austin 1992, no writ). Please remember that under the Act the release of information triggers certain procedures for costs and charges to the requestor. If records are released in compliance with this ruling, be sure that all charges for the information are at or below the legal amounts. Questions or complaints about over-charging must be directed to Hadassah Schloss at the Office of the Attorney General at (512) 475-2497. If the governmental body, the requestor, or any other person has questions or comments about this ruling, they may contact our office. Although there is no statutory deadline for contacting us, the attorney general prefers to receive any comments within 10 calendar days of the date of this ruling. Sincerely, Reg Hargrove Assistant Attorney General Open Records Division RJH/jb Ref: ID# 285263 Enc. Submitted documents c: Mr. Charles Head c/o Dennis J. Eichelbaum Schwartz & Eichelbaum, P.C. 7400 Gaylord Parkway, Suite 200 Frisco, Texas 75034 (w/o enclosures)
1. A copy of this letter may be found on the attorney general's website, available at http://www.oag.state.tx.us/opinopen/og_resources.shtml.
In the future, if the district does obtain parental consent to submit unredacted education records, and
the district seeks a ruling from this office on the proper redaction of those education records in compliance with
FERPA, we will rule accordingly. POST OFFICE BOX 12548, AUSTIN, TEXAS 78711-2548 TEL: (512) 463-2100 WEB: WWW.OAG.STATE.TX.US |