Business Insider August 25, 2022 public records request
| Submitted | Aug. 25, 2022 |
| Est. Completion | None |
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Communications
From: Insider Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the Tennessee Public Records Act, I hereby request the following records:
-All separation agreements and settlements reached with current and former teachers who taught in the district between January 1, 2017 through the day this request is fulfilled.
-All public records relating to any and all claims of misconduct against current and former teachers who taught in the district between January 1, 2017 through the day this request is fulfilled. Such public records should include, but not be limited to, all complaints; allegations; claims; investigatory reports; analyses; summaries; memoranda and/or notes; interview recordings; transcripts and/or notes; reviews; emails, text or other electronic messages, voicemails, and/or other communications and/or correspondence; determinations; decisions; orders; resignation letters; employment reclassification documents; offers in compromise and/or settlement agreements; termination and/or transfer papers; letters of reproval and/or other disciplinary actions, whether imposed or not; referrals to law enforcement, administrative, and/or licensing agencies, departments, and/or bodies; appeals; court filings and/or rulings; and all similar materials notwithstanding the use of other terminology, nomenclature, or categorization by this or other involved public agencies.
To further clarify this request, the scope of the misconduct at issue arises from, relates to, and/or is a consequence of sexual behavior and/or activities with district students, whether currently or previously enrolled, and notwithstanding whether any such behavior and/or activities were proven to have occurred or not. The construction of this request should be understood to be liberal and expansive, such that all public records which may be remotely responsive should be produced in full and may only be withheld and/or redacted only as required by law.
I would like these records in the electronic format that they are stored in, transmitted via email or other digital method; please refrain from sending paper copies of the records.
Rather than provide all responsive records at once, I ask that you provide copies of records on a rolling basis, as they become available.
If you determine that any of the information qualifies for an exemption from disclosure, I ask you to note whether the exemption is discretionary, and if so whether it is necessary in this case to exercise your discretion to withhold the information. In any event, please provide a signed notification citing the legal authorities on which you rely if you determine that any of the information is exempt and will not be disclosed.
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 7 business days, as the statute requires.
Sincerely,
Kent Hoover, a citizen of Tennessee, in coordination with Insider Staff.
From:
Google Forms
Thanks for filling out HCS Open Records Request
Here's what was received.
HCS Open Records Request
This form does not cover student records as those are protected by the
Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). Any requests for student
records will not receive a response.
For information on student records, please visit:
https://www.hcde.org/about_us/department_directory/student_records
Email *
By checking this box, you acknowledge your request is not related to
student records (see top box for details) and that you are a Tennessee
resident. *
✓
Yes
By checking this box, you acknowledge the information you are seeking is
not for a commercial purpose. *
✓
Yes
First Name *
Kent
Last Name *
Hoover
Phone Number *
Please provide the best number to reach you.
617-299-1832
Your Address (Per TN Code § 10-7-503, you must be a Tennessee resident in
order to request TN public records). *
1199 Street Road, Kingston Springs, TN 37082-9242
Organization Name *
MuckRock
Provide a detailed description of the record(s) requested, including: (1)
type of record; (2) timeframe or dates for the records sought; and (3)
subject matter or key words related to the records. Under the TPRA, record
requests must be sufficiently detailed to enable a governmental entity to
identify the specific records sought. As such, your record request must
provide enough detail to enable the records custodian responding to the
request to identify the specific records you are seeking. *
To Whom It May Concern: Pursuant to the Tennessee Public Records Act, I
hereby request the following records: -All separation agreements and
settlements reached with current and former teachers who taught in the
district between January 1, 2017 through the day this request is fulfilled.
-All public records relating to any and all claims of misconduct against
current and former teachers who taught in the district between January 1,
2017 through the day this request is fulfilled. Such public records should
include, but not be limited to, all complaints; allegations; claims;
investigatory reports; analyses; summaries; memoranda and/or notes;
interview recordings; transcripts and/or notes; reviews; emails, text or
other electronic messages, voicemails, and/or other communications and/or
correspondence; determinations; decisions; orders; resignation letters;
employment reclassification documents; offers in compromise and/or
settlement agreements; termination and/or transfer papers; letters of
reproval and/or other disciplinary actions, whether imposed or not;
referrals to law enforcement, administrative, and/or licensing agencies,
departments, and/or bodies; appeals; court filings and/or rulings; and all
similar materials notwithstanding the use of other terminology,
nomenclature, or categorization by this or other involved public agencies.
To further clarify this request, the scope of the misconduct at issue
arises from, relates to, and/or is a consequence of sexual behavior and/or
activities with district students, whether currently or previously
enrolled, and notwithstanding whether any such behavior and/or activities
were proven to have occurred or not. The construction of this request
should be understood to be liberal and expansive, such that all public
records which may be remotely responsive should be produced in full and may
only be withheld and/or redacted only as required by law. I would like
these records in the electronic format that they are stored in, transmitted
via email or other digital method; please refrain from sending paper copies
of the records. Rather than provide all responsive records at once, I ask
that you provide copies of records on a rolling basis, as they become
available. If you determine that any of the information qualifies for an
exemption from disclosure, I ask you to note whether the exemption is
discretionary, and if so whether it is necessary in this case to exercise
your discretion to withhold the information. In any event, please provide a
signed notification citing the legal authorities on which you rely if you
determine that any of the information is exempt and will not be disclosed.
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 7 business
days, as the statute requires. Sincerely, Kent Hoover, a citizen of
Tennessee, in coordination with Insider Staff.
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From:
Dear Mr. Hoover,
Hamilton County Schools is in receipt of your public records request submitted on 8/26/22 for the following records:
-All separation agreements and settlements reached with current and former teachers who taught in the district between January 1, 2017 through the day this request is fulfilled.
-All public records relating to any and all claims of misconduct against current and former teachers who taught in the district between January 1, 2017 through the day this request is fulfilled. Such public records should include, but not be limited to, all complaints; allegations; claims; investigatory reports; analyses; summaries; memoranda and/or notes; interview recordings; transcripts and/or notes; reviews; emails, text or other electronic messages, voicemails, and/or other communications and/or correspondence; determinations; decisions; orders; resignation letters; employment reclassification documents; offers in compromise and/or settlement agreements; termination and/or transfer papers; letters of reproval and/or other disciplinary actions, whether imposed or not; referrals to law enforcement, administrative, and/or licensing agencies, departments, and/or bodies; appeals; court filings and/or rulings; and all similar materials notwithstanding the use of other terminology, nomenclature, or categorization by this or other involved public agencies.
To further clarify this request, the scope of the misconduct at issue arises from, relates to, and/or is a consequence of sexual behavior and/or activities with district students, whether currently or previously enrolled, and notwithstanding whether any such behavior and/or activities were proven to have occurred or not. The construction of this request should be understood to be liberal and expansive, such that all public records which may be remotely responsive should be produced in full and may only be withheld and/or redacted only as required by law.
I would like these records in the electronic format that they are stored in, transmitted via email or other digital method; please refrain from sending paper copies of the records.
Rather than provide all responsive records at once, I ask that you provide copies of records on a rolling basis, as they become available.
If you determine that any of the information qualifies for an exemption from disclosure, I ask you to note whether the exemption is discretionary, and if so whether it is necessary in this case to exercise your discretion to withhold the information. In any event, please provide a signed notification citing the legal authorities on which you rely if you determine that any of the information is exempt and will not be disclosed.
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.
In response to your first request, we do not have separation or settlement agreements that would be responsive to your request.
In response to the request for records relating to misconduct as it arises from, relates to, and/or is a consequence of sexual behavior and/or activities with district students: In any given year, we employee 3,000-4,000 teachers. Over the past 5 years, we would have to go through 5000 to 10,000 employee files as we do not categorize misconduct in the manner requested. Please understand that most of these files are physical, so we can either make physical copies as they are discovered and give to you, or per your request, we can scan and email these to you. Please note that scanning and emailing the files will increase the cost of labor. Please advise which you prefer.
For black and white paper copies, the cost is 15 cents per page, and for color, 50 cents per page. All copies can be made in black and white, but please let us know which you prefer.
Please note that time is limited because available employees still have employment related tasks to perform. Due to the expansive nature of the request, multiple employees will be assigned to work on this as time allows which will result in a range of hourly rates applied based on the employee performing the work. The range will be $22.91 to $40.51 per hour. We will make reasonable efforts for the employees with lower hourly rates perform the work.
Based on 1) our lowest estimate of files to be reviewed, 2) our lowest estimate of time needed to spend to review each file (20 minutes), and 3) our lowest hourly rate, the estimated labor currently exceeds $38,000. Knowing this is the approximate cost at this point, how would you like to proceed?
Best regards,
Steve Doremus, Communications Officer
Communications Department
3074 Hickory Valley Road | Chattanooga, TN 37421
(Office) 423-498-7043 | ext. 20028
(Cell) 615-944-5992
Email: Doremus_S@HCDE.org<mailto:Doremus_S@HCDE.org>
website<https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.hcde.org%2F&data=04%7C01%7Cwilson_chad%40HCDE.ORG%7C80f6e10be0064f106a0c08d8768b2886%7C5888845b524449bbad0855148e60565a%7C1%7C0%7C637389687335663864%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=K6yxqnwmIVVWWNOSwFWFrExveIWVR3V4QteeL8gt%2Bew%3D&reserved=0> | facebook<https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FHamiltonCountySchools&data=04%7C01%7Cwilson_chad%40HCDE.ORG%7C80f6e10be0064f106a0c08d8768b2886%7C5888845b524449bbad0855148e60565a%7C1%7C0%7C637389687335663864%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=tRWy1ljClCXiROgOW%2F%2BkKWw9utHLoTAO%2BjqZtW%2Bb9h0%3D&reserved=0> | twitter<https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Fhamcoschools&data=04%7C01%7Cwilson_chad%40HCDE.ORG%7C80f6e10be0064f106a0c08d8768b2886%7C5888845b524449bbad0855148e60565a%7C1%7C0%7C637389687335673859%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=NY8a8IuUwGYo4ePAiQPnpOHehJdENEZHjtgOqsYnweY%3D&reserved=0> | instagram<https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.instagram.com%2Fhamiltoncountyschools%2F&data=04%7C01%7Cwilson_chad%40HCDE.ORG%7C80f6e10be0064f106a0c08d8768b2886%7C5888845b524449bbad0855148e60565a%7C1%7C0%7C637389687335673859%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=I%2BIT36yNL%2Fy3PJ5Updgw52go7s7IjeNY4wNFhU76p5U%3D&reserved=0> | youtube<https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fchannel%2FUCDI6P1TEWOG163ZRXKuf4gQ&data=04%7C01%7Cwilson_chad%40HCDE.ORG%7C80f6e10be0064f106a0c08d8768b2886%7C5888845b524449bbad0855148e60565a%7C1%7C0%7C637389687335683855%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=uSA76vOPgooqsDjx4IWUwSXqfqt8w1QDEota8lloWDI%3D&reserved=0>
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From: Insider Staff
Good afternoon, thank you for the update.
It appears you have misunderstood both my request and the scope of costs an agency is allowed to charge requesters under state statute. I've consulted with an attorney and am hopeful that we can resolve this matter without seeking a judicial remedy through the courts.
First, by way of context, I've requested these same records from a dozen other school districts across the state. The Hamilton County School District is the only district to claim that this request is overburdensome and would require thousands of dollars of staff time to fulfill; indeed, no other district has quoted me more than $250 to fill my request, and at least three of them are larger than your district.
Second, I've requested electronic copies only of responsive records, specifically noting that I do not wish to receive any paper copies of documents. State statute allows your office to bill requesters for the cost of reproduction only (i.e., a CD, flash drive or some other electronic method of transfer). Please confirm your understanding of this.
Third, separation and settlement agreements are not, as you claim, part of an employee's personnel file. Typically these records are stored separately, and under the Act are a matter of public record. No other school district I've requested these records from has been unable to quickly locate these documents or found them to be otherwise non-segregable. Please confirm your understanding of this as well as an estimated date of production for when I should expect to receive the agreements responsive to my request.
Lastly, with respect to how the district stores records of misconduct, I am happy to narrow the scope to reduce the time needed to locate responsive records, but would first need to know a bit more information about how your office maintains records. In other districts, when there is a credible instance of misconduct or abuse involving students, records generated from the incident are denoted as such (this is for many reasons, including but not limited to notifying state authorities). Please advise how the Hamilton County School District has elected to maintain its records in this regard.
Thank you,
From: Hamilton County School District
Good morning.
In response to your email of Sept. 7, we understand what the Office of Open Records Counsel has identified as appropriate charges, and we routinely refer to the forms and online guidance from the OORC website when responding to requests such as yours. Our response was based upon that guidance and our knowledge of how HCS stores its personnel files. Since we do not maintain a list of separate files that are specifically responsive to your requests, we would have to review each personnel file individually for records of any complaints, investigations, and resulting action. If you wish to revise your request to substantiated complaints of misconduct, then we would be able to narrow our search substantially.
You have misunderstood our response regarding separation or settlement agreements with employees accused of misconduct. We have no documents responsive to that request because we do not enter into separation or settlement agreements with such employees.
If you have consulted with an attorney, then it might be more expedient for you to have him or her contact our attorney, whose contact information is
D. Scott Bennett
Bennett & DeCamp, PLLC
(423) 498-3789
dsb@bennettdecamp.com
Best regards,
Steve Doremus, Communications Officer
Communications Department
3074 Hickory Valley Road | Chattanooga, TN 37421
(Office) 423-498-7043 | ext. 20028
(Cell) 615-944-5992
Email: Doremus_S@HCDE.org<mailto:Doremus_S@HCDE.org>
website<https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.hcde.org%2F&data=04%7C01%7Cwilson_chad%40HCDE.ORG%7C80f6e10be0064f106a0c08d8768b2886%7C5888845b524449bbad0855148e60565a%7C1%7C0%7C637389687335663864%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=K6yxqnwmIVVWWNOSwFWFrExveIWVR3V4QteeL8gt%2Bew%3D&reserved=0> | facebook<https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FHamiltonCountySchools&data=04%7C01%7Cwilson_chad%40HCDE.ORG%7C80f6e10be0064f106a0c08d8768b2886%7C5888845b524449bbad0855148e60565a%7C1%7C0%7C637389687335663864%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=tRWy1ljClCXiROgOW%2F%2BkKWw9utHLoTAO%2BjqZtW%2Bb9h0%3D&reserved=0> | twitter<https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Fhamcoschools&data=04%7C01%7Cwilson_chad%40HCDE.ORG%7C80f6e10be0064f106a0c08d8768b2886%7C5888845b524449bbad0855148e60565a%7C1%7C0%7C637389687335673859%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=NY8a8IuUwGYo4ePAiQPnpOHehJdENEZHjtgOqsYnweY%3D&reserved=0> | instagram<https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.instagram.com%2Fhamiltoncountyschools%2F&data=04%7C01%7Cwilson_chad%40HCDE.ORG%7C80f6e10be0064f106a0c08d8768b2886%7C5888845b524449bbad0855148e60565a%7C1%7C0%7C637389687335673859%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=I%2BIT36yNL%2Fy3PJ5Updgw52go7s7IjeNY4wNFhU76p5U%3D&reserved=0> | youtube<https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fchannel%2FUCDI6P1TEWOG163ZRXKuf4gQ&data=04%7C01%7Cwilson_chad%40HCDE.ORG%7C80f6e10be0064f106a0c08d8768b2886%7C5888845b524449bbad0855148e60565a%7C1%7C0%7C637389687335683855%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=uSA76vOPgooqsDjx4IWUwSXqfqt8w1QDEota8lloWDI%3D&reserved=0>
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