Nevada Dept of Education + Discovery/Nevada Gold Mines
| Submitted | Feb. 22, 2024 |
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Communications
From: Molly Taft
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the Nevada Public Records Act, I hereby request the following records:
1. Copies of contracts, agreements, and/or partnerships into which the department has entered with Discovery Education between Jan. 1 2020 and the time this request is processed.
2. Copies of contracts, agreements, and/or partnerships into which the department has entered with Nevada Gold Mines/Barrick Gold between Jan. 1 2020 and the time this request is processed.
3. Copies of any proposals and/or presentations anyone representing Discovery Education has presented to the department between Jan. 2020 and the time this request is processed; these may be identifiable by searching for records attached to anyone whose email address ends in @discoveryed.com.
4. Copies of any correspondence between department staff and anyone with an email address ending in @discoveryed.com dated between Jan. 1 2020 and the time this request is processed. I also request that any documents attached to any discovered correspondence be provided in .pdf format.
5. Copies of any correspondence between department staff and anyone with an email address ending in @barrick.com dated between Jan. 1 2020 and the time this request is processed. I also request that any documents attached to any discovered correspondence be provided in .pdf format.
When searching emails, please search all folders, including inbox, subject matter folders, sent items, archived items, and deleted items. Please produce all metadata fields for emails, including BCC and all others.
The requested documents will be used in the course of reporting for Drilled Media, and I request a waiver of all fees for this request. In order to help to determine my status to assess fees, you should know that I am a journalist with Drilled Media. Disclosure of the requested information to me is in the public interest because it is likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of the operations or activities of the government and is not primarily in my commercial interest.
If this request is denied in whole or in part, I ask that you justify all deletions by reference to specific exemptions of the Nevada Public Records Act. Please inform us of the reason(s) for such denial in writing, and provide the name, mailing address, and email address of the person or body to whom an appeal should be directed. I expect the release of all segregable portions of otherwise exempt material. Please do not redact any non-responsive information from any records; we request the complete copies of any records with any responsive information.
In the interest of time, I request that you provide documents as they become available rather than waiting for the complete set.
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,
Molly Taft
From: Nevada Department of Education
Thank you for contacting the Nevada Department of Education. We have received your request and are working to process it. You should receive a response within 30 days.
Thank you,
Nevada Department of Education
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From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Nevada Public Records Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on Feb. 22, 2024. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Nevada Department of Education
Hello Molly,
The Nevada Department of Education has determined that it needs additional time to locate and conduct a legal review of the documents responsive to your public records request. For that cause, the Nevada Department of Education estimates that its response to your public records request will now be available on or before April 29, 2024.
Julie Wootton-Greener
Public Information Officer
Nevada Department of Education
julie.woottongreener@doe.nv.gov<mailto:julie.woottongreener@doe.nv.gov>
Desk: (702) 486-6602
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From: Nevada Department of Education
Hello Molly,
As we have started to work on your public records request, we anticipate there will be a significant number of documents that are responsive. It will likely take months to compile the documents and conduct the necessary legal review. We are contacting you to ask whether there is something more specific that you are looking for and if you would be willing to narrow the scope of your request so that we can better assist you in a more timely manner. Thank you.
Nevada Department of Education
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From: Nevada Department of Education
Hello Molly,
Hope you are doing well. We are following up on the inquiry below regarding your public records request with the Nevada Department of Education. Thank you for your time and assistance.
Nevada Department of Education
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From: Molly Taft
Hi there,
Apologies for the delayed response here — I was ill for the past couple of weeks and am just catching up on emails. Is the bulk of the difficulty in the email requests? Would narrowing this specific request to points 1 through 3 (copies of contracts, agreements, and/or partnerships between the Department of Education, Discovery Education, and/or Barrick Gold, and proposals and/or presentations from those two entities) help expedite things?
Thanks,
Molly
From: Nevada Department of Education
Hello Molly,
Thank you for your response and the consideration. The bulk of the difficulty relates to the request for emails – particularly, the time it takes to compile the documents since a significant number are responsive to the request, as well as to conduct the necessary legal review. Narrowing the request to points 1 through 3 would significantly expedite the response time, with an estimated timeline for completion on or before May 10.
Thank you.
Nevada Department of Education
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From: Nevada Department of Education
Good morning Molly,
If you could please confirm whether you would like to narrow your request to items 1 through 3, or keep it as written, it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you again for your time and consideration.
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From: Nevada Department of Education
Hello Molly,
The Nevada Department of Education has determined that it needs additional time to locate and conduct a legal review of the documents responsive to your public records request. For that cause, the Nevada Department of Education estimates that its response to your public records request will now be available on or before May 10, 2024.
Thank you.
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From: Nevada Department of Education
Good morning Molly,
If you could please confirm whether you would like to narrow your request to items 1 through 3, or keep it as written, it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you again for your time and consideration.
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From: Nevada Department of Education
Hello Molly,
The Nevada Department of Education has determined that it needs additional time to locate and conduct a legal review of the documents responsive to your public records request. For that cause, the Nevada Department of Education estimates that its response to your public records request will now be available on or before June 10, 2024.
Thank you.
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From: Nevada Department of Education
Hello Molly,
My name is Julie Wootton-Greener and I'm the public information officer at the Nevada Department of Education. Hope you're doing well.
I was wondering if we could please discuss your public records request regarding Discovery Education and Nevada Gold Mines/Barrick Gold by phone or email at a time that is convenient for you. I tried the phone number listed on the request, but am receiving a busy signal.
Thank you for your time and assistance. I appreciate it.
Julie Wootton-Greener
Public Information Officer
Nevada Department of Education
julie.woottongreener@doe.nv.gov<mailto:julie.woottongreener@doe.nv.gov>
Desk: (702) 486-6602
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From: Nevada Department of Education
Hello Molly,
Attached are documents that are responsive to item #1 in your public records request seeking copies of contracts, agreements and/or partnerships with Discovery Education.
There are no documents responsive for item #2 related to Nevada Gold Mines/Barrick Gold.
Item #3 in your request remains pending.
Nevada Department of Education
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From: Nevada Department of Education
The Nevada Department of Education has determined that it needs additional time to locate and conduct a legal review of the documents responsive to your public records request. For that cause, the Nevada Department of Education estimates that its response to your public records request will now be available on or before July 10, 2024.
Thank you.
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From: Nevada Department of Education
Your request for public records has been partially denied. The information that was redacted from the public records you requested was banking and account information, and personal contact information. This information was redacted per the balancing test described by the Nevada Supreme Court in Donrey of Nevada v. Bradshaw, 106 Nev. 630, 798 P.2d 144 (1990). NDE's interest in keeping banking and account information, and personal contact information, confidential is greater than the public's need to obtain that information.
The responsive documents can be found using this DropBox link: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/u0bg7g3xlpd9yiwwmivp5/AMJbA2J0e1VNGbjIonFwoHc?rlkey=k1jfl5llb8baieb6ogy226zmq&st=ow8151wc&dl=0
Nevada Department of Education
