The following policies and procedures are adopted in order to comply with the requirements of the Mississippi Public Records Act of 1983 (hereinafter the "Act") as amended July 1, 2008.

RECORDS ACCESSIBLE

All "public records" maintained by the district, as defined by the Act, shall be made available for access and duplication, subject to the exceptions and requirements of these policies, and other state or federal laws.

REQUESTS FOR ACCESS

Requests for access to public records shall be filed in writing, on forms provided, with the Superintendent of Schools, Ocean Springs School District, Post Office Box 7002 (39566-7002), 2300 Government Street (39564), Ocean Springs, MS.  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 fourteen (14) days from the date of the receipt of the request, to allow inspection and/or duplication.

FEES CHARGED

As allowed by statute, the district shall 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 & Reviewing:  An hourly charge of $10.00 or in the event it is necessary for supervisory personnel to conduct the search and review then an amount which equals the actual wage per hour of such  person;
  • Redaction of exempt material; and,
  • 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.

EXEMPT RECORDS

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 Missis sippi Code of 1972;

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

12.  Records that would reveal the identity of informants and/or witnesses;

13.  Records that would prematurely release information that would impede the district's enforcement, detective, or investigative efforts;

14.  Records which are compiled in the process of detecting or investigating unlawful behavior or activity, the disclosure of which would harm the investigation;

15.  Records that would disclose investigative techniques and/or results thereof;

16.  Records that would deprive a person of a fair or impartial trial;

17.  Information which would qualify for presentation in executive session;

18.  Records that would endanger the life of a student or employee of the district; and,

19.  If a public record contains material which is exempt and the exempted material can be redacted, the district shall redact the exempt material and make the non-exempt material available.

DENIAL OF ACCESS

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 reasons for the denial.  The district will maintain a file of all denials for a period of three (3) years.  The file shall be made available for inspection and/or copying during regular hours upon receipt of a written request.

LEGAL REF.: MS CODE ' 25-61-1 et seq.; ' 37-11-51 (1983)

ADOPTED:  11/13/2001

REVISED:   11/08/2005

               08/12/2008

NOTE: The "Public Records Access Report" follows below.

OCEAN SPRINGS SCHOOL DISTRICT

PUBLIC RECORDS ACCESS REPORT

Name of Requesting Party_____________________________________________________

Address ___________________________________________________________________

City_____________________________      State: ____________      Zip _____________

Telephone __________________________ 

Nature, location and description of record(s) sought:

__________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

Request for inspection                  _______Yes          _______No

Request for duplication of records   _______Yes          _______No

I agree to be financially responsible for all charges assessed by the district as actual costs incurred in searching, reviewing and/or duplicating the public records described above.

Signature: _________________________________________________________________

Date________________ _______________________          Time ____________________

FOR OFFICE USE ONLY:  AMOUNT OF DEPOSIT

Paid ______________________________________________________________

Received by________________________________________________________