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FREEDOM OF INFORMATION
COMMISSION |
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In
the Matter of a Complaint by |
FINAL
DECISION |
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Joan
Coe, |
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Complainants |
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against |
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Docket
#FIC 1999-294 |
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Superintendent of Schools, Simsbury Public Schools, |
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Respondents |
November
10, 1999 |
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The above-captioned matter was
heard as a contested case on August 26, 1999, at which time the complainant and
the respondent appeared, stipulated to certain facts and presented testimony,
exhibits and argument on the complaint.
At the hearing on this matter, Joseph Grace, the subject of the records
at issue in this matter, requested and was granted party status.
After consideration of the entire
record, the following facts are found and conclusions of law are reached:
1. The respondent is a public agency within the meaning of §1-200(1),
G.S. [formerly §1-18a(1), G.S.].
2. By letter dated June 13, 1999, the complainant requested that the
respondent provide her with copies of several records concerning Simsbury
Football Coach Joe Grace (hereinafter “Coach Grace”), including a reprimand. The complainant stated that the subject
material should include the investigation that was conducted pertaining to the
incidents prior to and during the October 31, 1998 football game between
Bloomfield and Simsbury High Schools.
3. By letter dated June 21, 1999 and filed July 2, 1999, the
complainant appealed to the Commission alleging that the respondent had not
provided her with a copy of the reprimand of Coach Grace and requesting that the
Commission undergo an in camera inspection of Coach Grace’s
entire personnel file to determine what information is subject to disclosure
under the Freedom of Information (hereinafter “FOI”) Act.
4. It is found that the respondent does not
maintain a written reprimand for Coach Grace concerning the incidents
referenced in paragraph 2, above.
However, in June 1999, following the respondent’s receipt of a written
complaint letter from a parent concerning the incidents referenced in paragraph
2, above, and an investigation thereof, Coach Grace was issued an amended
performance evaluation pertaining to his coaching for the 1998-1999 academic
year, along with a typed attachment indicating that the evaluation had been
modified, which records are maintained by the respondent.
5. At the hearing on this matter, the parties
agreed that the issue before the Commission is whether the amended performance
evaluation and attachment, described in paragraph 4, above, to the extent they
document or relate to the incidents referenced in paragraph 2, above, is
subject to disclosure. The complainant
indicated that she had either received all of the other records requested in
her June 13, 1999 letter of request or that she was no longer interested in
obtaining them.
6. It is found that the requested records are public records within
the meaning of §§1-200(5) and
1-210(a), G.S. [formerly §§1-18a(5) and
1-19(a), G.S.].
7. At the hearing on this matter, the
respondent and Coach Grace maintained that the subject amended performance
evaluation and attachment is exempt from disclosure pursuant to §10-151c,
G.S.
8. Section 1-210(a), G.S., [formerly §1-19(a),
G.S.] provides in relevant part that:
Except as otherwise provided by any
federal law or state statute, all records maintained or kept on file by any
public agency…shall be public records and every person shall have the right to
inspect such records promptly during regular office or business hours or to
receive a copy of such records in accordance with the provisions of section
1-212 [formerly §1-15, G.S.].
9. Section 10-151c, G.S., provides, in relevant
part, that:
[a]ny
records maintained or kept on file by any local or regional board of education
which are records of teacher performance and evaluation shall not be deemed
public records and shall not be subject to the provisions of §1-210
[formerly §1-19,
G.S.], provided that any teacher may consent in writing to the release of his
records by a board of education.
10. After the hearing on this matter, the
respondent submitted the subject records, along with Coach Grace’s original
evaluation that was completed in December of 1998, to the Commission for an in
camera inspection.
11. It is found that Coach Grace is a teacher
within the Simsbury Public Schools system.
12. After conducting an in camera
inspection of the subject records, it is found that Coach Grace’s performance
evaluation was amended in a general manner in June 1999 and that there is no
reference, either in the amended evaluation or the short attachment, to
specific incidents that resulted in the change to the evaluation or to
disciplinary action.
13. It is further found that the respondent issued a public statement
detailing the investigation conducted concerning the incidents referenced in
paragraph 2, above, that is far more specific than the information that is
reflected in the subject records.
14. It is further found that the subject records
constitute records of “teacher performance and evaluation” within the meaning
of §10-151c,
G.S.
15. It is concluded under the facts of this case, that the subject
records are exempt from disclosure pursuant to §10-151c,
G.S., and that the respondent did not violate the disclosure provisions of §§1-210(a)
and 1-212(a), G.S. [formerly §§1-19(a) and 1-15(a)
G.S., respectively], by failing to disclose such records to the complainant
following her June 13, 1999 request.
The following order by the
Commission is hereby recommended on the basis of the record concerning the
above-captioned complaint:
1. The complaint is hereby dismissed.
Approved by Order of the Freedom of Information Commission
at its regular meeting of
November 10, 1999.
_________________________
Melanie R. Balfour
Acting Clerk of the Commission
PURSUANT TO SECTION 4-180(c), G.S., THE FOLLOWING ARE THE
NAMES OF EACH PARTY AND THE MOST RECENT MAILING ADDRESS, PROVIDED TO THE
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION COMMISSION, OF THE PARTIES OR THEIR AUTHORIZED
REPRESENTATIVE.
THE PARTIES TO THIS CONTESTED CASE ARE:
Joan Coe,
26 Whitcomb Drive
Simsbury, CT 06070
Superintendent of Schools, Simsbury Public Schools
c/o Atty. Thomas N. Sullivan
Sullivan, Schoen, Campane & Connon, LLC
646 Prospect Avenue
Hartford, CT
06105-4286
Joseph Grace
c/o Atty. William J. Dolan
21 Oak Street, Suite 500
Hartford, CT
06106-8001
__________________________
Melanie R. Balfour
Acting Clerk of the Commission
FIC1999-294/FD/mrb/11121999