Emporia Public Schools may add fees to open records requests.
The Emporia chapter of the National Education Association is citing a document saying the district could charge fees in several categories:
*Hard-copy records could be available at $20 an hour
*Retrieval of computerized records would cost $35 an hour
*The administrative staff rate for records would be $75 an hour. The rate drops to $20 an hour for non-administrative staff
*Record copies would be available at 25 cents a copy
*Privileged information or records exempted by the state’s Open Records Act would cost $320 an hour to factor in an attorney review period
Emporia NEA President Erica Huggard says it makes sense for people to pay fees for records needing attorney review. However, she tells KVOE News she has some concerns about the potential policy.
District Community Relations Director and Freedom of Information Act Officer Lyndel Landgren says the new fees are the result of an abundance of open meeting records requests in recent years.
If there is further discussion, this would be a so-called “second read” of the policy and there is currently no timetable for that to happen. If this is passed by the USD 253 board, the district says fees will “not exceed the actual cost of furnishing copies or computer services, including the cost of staff time required to make the copies, supervise the copying or provide access to the records.”
