Institute for Curriculum Services (Indiana Department of Education)

Good afternoon Alex,

Thank you for contacting the Indiana Department of Education (“IDOE”). Beginning in December 2023, all legitimate public records/APRA requests seeking a tangible, existing document must be submitted via the Indiana Department of Education’s APRA Portal<https://in.accessgov.com/doe-apra>. Requests submitted via email or traditional mail will not be accepted. Please submit your request via the Indiana Department of Education’s APRA Portal<https://in.accessgov.com/doe-apra>.

Regarding your request for “Any contracts between the Education Department and the Institute for Curriculum Services (“ICS”)”, the IDOE was not able to find a record of a contract between the IDOE and ICS.

Regarding your request for “email communication between Education Department employees and employees of the Institute for Curriculum Services” from 10/7/2022 through 11/21/2024, please note that the Access to Public Records Act (“APRA”) requires that a records request “identify with reasonable particularity the record being requested.” I.C. § 5-14-3-3(a)(1). The Department is unable to identify records in our possession based on the parameters you have provided. The Indiana Public Access Counselor has “acknowledged that if a requester were allowed to tell a public agency to figure out what records the requester wanted it would be tantamount to a ‘fishing expedition,’ which is not the intention of the APRA as the legislature drafted it.” See Opinion of the Public Access Counselor 20-FC-41. In 21-FC-72, the Public Access Counselor opines that “a reasonably specific email search entailed the identification of a named sender and recipient within a time frame.” In addition, the Public Access Counselor also states that a time frame of six months or less, and a subject matter or key word list be included in the request. Opinion of the Public Access Counselor, 21-FC-72 (2021).

When you submit your request via the Indiana Department of Education’s APRA Portal<https://in.accessgov.com/doe-apra>, please be sure to include the following information in your request for “email communication”:

1. A named sender;
2. A named recipient;
3. A time frame of 6 months or less; and
4. A key word list.

Note for Email Requests:

1. If the sender/recipient is an Indiana Department of Education employee, must provide the employees name (and if possible, their email address), and/or General Department Email such as publicrecords@doe.in.gov<mailto:publicrecords@doe.in.gov>);
2. If the sender/recipient is not an Indiana Department of Education employee, must provide the email address of the sender/recipient (and if possible, their name).

Thank you,

- Billy

William H. Ottensmeyer
Staff Attorney
Office of Legal Affairs
Indiana Department of Education
www.doe.in.gov<http://www.doe.in.gov/>

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