July 10, 2012

Mr. Peter K. Rusek

Sheehy, Lovelace & Mayfield, P.C.

510 North Valley Mills Drive, Suite 500

Waco, Texas 76710

OR2012-10635

Dear Mr. Rusek:

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# 459042.

The Marlin Independent School District (the "district"), which you represent, received a request for the full investigation concerning a specified incident. You claim that the submitted information is excepted from disclosure under section 552.101 of the Government Code. We have considered the exception you claim and reviewed the submitted information.

Section 552.101 of the Government Code excepts from disclosure "information considered to be confidential by law, either constitutional, statutory, or by judicial decision." Gov't Code § 552.101. This section encompasses information protected by other statutes, such as section 21.355 of the Education Code, which provides that "[a] document evaluating the performance of a teacher or administrator is confidential." Educ. Code § 21.355(a). This office has interpreted section 21.355 to apply to any document that evaluates, as that term is commonly understood, the performance of a teacher or an administrator. See Open Records Decision No. 643 (1996). We have determined that, for purposes of section 21.355, the word "teacher" means a person who is required to and does in fact hold a teaching certificate under subchapter B of chapter 21 of the Education Code and who is engaged in the process of teaching, as that term is commonly defined, at the time of the evaluation. See id. at 4. Additionally, the courts have concluded that a written reprimand constitutes an evaluation for purposes of section 21.355 as it "reflects the principal's judgment regarding [a teacher's] actions, gives corrective direction, and provides for further review." North East Indep. Sch. Dist. v. Abbott, 212 S.W.3d 364 (Tex. App.--Austin 2006, no pet.).

You seek to withhold the submitted information under section 21.355. The submitted information pertains to the employees at issue in their capacities as coaches and consists of handwritten notes, receipts, letters of notification of suspension, and e-mails. As such, we find you have not demonstrated how any of the submitted information constitutes an evaluation of the performance of a teacher or an administrator for purposes of section 21.355(a). See Educ. Code § 21.353 (teachers shall be appraised only on basis of classroom teaching performance and not in connection with extracurricular activities). Accordingly, the district may not withhold any of the submitted information under section 552.101 of the Government Code on this basis. As you raise no further exceptions to disclosure, the district must release the submitted information.

This letter ruling is limited to the particular information 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 information or any other circumstances.

This ruling triggers important deadlines regarding the rights and responsibilities of the governmental body and of the requestor. For more information concerning those rights and responsibilities, please visit our website at http://www.oag.state.tx.us/open/index_orl.php, or call the Office of the Attorney General's Open Government Hotline, toll free, at (877) 673-6839. Questions concerning the allowable charges for providing public information under the Act must be directed to the Cost Rules Administrator of the Office of the Attorney General, toll free at (888) 672-6787.

Sincerely,

Lindsay E. Hale

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

LEH/ag

Ref: ID# 459042

Enc. Submitted documents

c: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

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