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

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

Hello,

Please find the request form attached. Thank you for your help with this request.

Sincerely,
MuckRock

am writing to appeal a failure to respond to my FOIL request made on 3/6/23. The request was for 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, I requested a search of specific terms.

As of today's date, I have not received a response to my FOIL request. Therefore, I am appealing the lack of response and request that you conduct a diligent search for responsive records and provide them to me in a timely manner.

Furthermore, I would like to modify my original request to narrow the affiliated organizations list to remove references to "pediatric," "child health," and "school health." This modification will allow for a more specific and reasonable description of the records being requested.

Please 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.

Thank you for your attention to this matter. I look forward to your prompt response.

I am writing to formally appeal the summary denial of access regarding my Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request dated March 6, 2023. The request sought records related to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the Council on School Health (COSH), including any communications or correspondence between the Guilderland Central School District and these organizations from January 1, 2017, to the date of the final response.

As per the communications timeline:

My FOIL request was submitted on March 6, 2023.
On March 28, 2023, the Guilderland Central School District acknowledged the request and committed to providing a response by April 26, 2023.
Despite multiple follow-ups, as of [current date], I have not received any substantive response or the requested documents.
The lack of a response beyond the initial acknowledgment effectively constitutes a denial of access to the requested records. This is in violation of the New York Freedom of Information Law, which mandates that an agency must grant or deny access to records within twenty business days of the receipt of a request.

Given the above, I appeal the implicit denial and request that the Guilderland Central School District conduct a diligent search for the requested records and provide them promptly. If there are any fees associated with this request, please inform me in advance.

If my appeal is denied, I request a written explanation specifying the reasons for the denial. I also request that any such denial be in writing and that it reference specific provisions of the law which you believe justify the denial.

Thank you for your attention to this matter. I look forward to your prompt response to this appeal.