Public Records Request

The Pascagoula-Gautier School District shall comply with the requirements of the Mississippi Public Records Act of 1983 and shall make public records accessible subject to legal exceptions and requirements of the district and state and federal laws. Requests for access shall be made on forms available in the district.

The request must state with sufficient specificity the nature, location, and description of the public record sought in order to enable the appropriate official(s) of the district to obtain the records for review and/or duplication.  In the event that the request lacks sufficient clarity or is otherwise unduly burdensome, it will be returned to the originator for clarification or correction.  All requests to inspect or duplicate public records must be filed between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. on any working day in the superintendent’s office.

Requests for inspection and/or duplication of records shall be honored at such time during the day as the documents are not being used by the appropriate officials of the district.  After the records are located and made available for inspection and/or duplication, the originator of the request will be notified of a time, place and date, not later than seven (7) days from the date of the receipt of the request, to allow inspection and/or duplication.

As allowed by statute, the district may charge and collect fees to reimburse it for the actual costs of searching, reviewing, duplicating and mailing copies of public records. All applicable charges shall be paid to the district in advance of complying with any requests, pursuant to the following schedule:

Photocopying: 30 cents per page, with a minimum charge of $1.00 per search.

Searching and Reviewing: An hourly charge of $5.00 or any staff time or contractual services included in actual cost shall be at the pay scale of the lowest level employee or contractor competent to respond to the request.  Such fees shall be collected by the district in advance of complying with the request.

Postage: Actual cost of postage shall be assessed for all records mailed.

Any request which will require considerable assistance of school personnel for searching and reviewing shall be subject to a minimum deposit of $25.00.  In the event that the actual cost is found to be less than $25.00, the balance shall be refunded to the originator of the request at the appointed time for the inspection and/or duplication.

The following records are exempt from the Act and from this policy and shall not be subject to disclosure, except under other authority and under appropriate circumstances.

1. Records furnished to public bodies by third parties which contain trade secrets or confidential, commercial or financial information, as provided by the Act.

2. Records which are confidential or privileged, as provided by constitutional, statutory or case law of this state or of the United States.

3. Records which are developed among judges, judges and their aides, and juries.

4. Personnel records, including but not limited to applications for employment, test questions and answers used in employment examinations, and letters of recommendation.

5. Test questions and answers in the possession of a public body which are to be used in future academic examinations.

6. Records which represent and constitute the work product of an attorney representing the district, records which are related to litigation by or against the district, or in anticipation of prospective litigation, and communications between the district and the attorney in the course of an attorney-client relationship.

7. Records which would disclose information about a person's individual tax payment or status.

8. Records concerning the sale or purchase of property for public purposes prior to the announcement of the purchase or sale where the release of the record would have a detrimental effect on the sale and purchase.

9. All educational records of students and former students, as defined by Policy JR — Student Records and by the Federal Privacy Act; such exemption shall also apply to letters of recommendation respecting admission to any educational agency or institution.

10. Records that are maintained regarding the process of detection and investigation of unlawful activity, in addition to such records as defined in Section 45-29-1 of the Mississippi Code of 1972.

11. Commercial and financial information of a proprietary nature required to be submitted to the district.

In the event that the district denies a request for access to or copies of public records, the denial will be in writing and contain a statement of the specific exemption relied upon by the public body for the denial.  The district will maintain a record of all denials for a period of three (3) years.

Legal Ref.: MS Code, As cited
Cross Ref.: Policies CN — Administrative Records

                                  JR — Student Records

Policy CN Administrative Records