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PUBLIC RECORDS REQUEST

What is a Pubic Record?

According to Ch. 119 (definition 12) of the Florida Statute:

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"Public records" means all documents, papers, letters, maps, books, tapes, photographs, films, sound recordings, data processing software, or other material, regardless of the physical form, characteristics, or means of transmission, made or received pursuant to law or ordinance or in connection with the transaction of official business by an agency.

Requesting Public Records 

Public Records may be requested in writing to the Records Custodian by clicking here to complete a Public Records Request Form. Once received, the Records Custodian will acknowledge the request. If the documents are not readily available, the Records Custodian will provide an estimate of the period for providing responsive documents along with any applicable charges or deposits.

Requests for Readily Available Documents 

"Readily available documents" are those that are easily retrievable, regularly disseminated to the public, and do not require additional review in order to determine whether they contain exempt information (such as meeting minutes, bylaws, student handbook, marketing materials, etc.) There shall be no charge for labor in retrieving the requested documents, but any copies purchased by the requestor shall be charged as indicated above.

Requests for Other Documents

If responding to a request that will take more than thirty minutes, the Board Liaison/Records Custodian will contact the requestor with an estimated labor charge for retrieval in addition to the charge for copies as indicated above. Labor charge shall be calculated by the employee's hourly rate of pay, multiplied by the actual time worked to accommodate the request. All time shall be measured in tenths of an hour.

Redaction

Each email, or other forms of correspondence, must be reviewed to see if there is any information exempt from public records law or deemed confidential in accordance with the public records law. Should any information found in requested correspondence that is exempt from public records law; the exempt information will be redacted, and the specific statutory provision making the portion of the record confidential or relating to the exemption will be cited in the response to the public records request.

Fees for Copying Public Records 

  • 15 cents per one-sided legal size or smaller

  • 20 cents per two-sided legal size or smaller

  • Other types of media: the charge shall be the actual cost to the school

  • Special service charge attributable to the extensive use of information technology resources and/or labor cost of the personnel providing the service

Reducing Costs and Limiting Charges 

Labor costs can be reduced significantly if requests include keywords instead of open-ended terms such as "all documents or emails." Similarly, narrowing a request to certain individuals or a particular date range can greatly reduce the use of extensive labor.

**Please note: The Public Records Law does not contain a specific time period (e.g., 48 hours) for fulfilling a public records request. The response needs to be provided within a reasonable amount of time under the circumstances of when the request is made and the documents requested.

A Custodial Record Alert 

1) If a civil action is filed against an agency to enforce the provisions of this chapter, the court shall assess and award the reasonable costs of enforcement, including reasonable attorney fees, against the responsible agency if the court determines that:

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a. The agency unlawfully refused to permit a public record to be inspected or copied; and

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a. The complainant provided written notice identifying the public record request to the agency's custodian of public records at least 5 business days before filing the civil action, except as provided under subsection (2). The notice period begins on the day the written notice of the request is received by the custodian of public records, excluding Saturday, Sunday, and legal holidays, and runs until 5 business days have elapsed.

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1) The complainant is not required to provide written notice of the public record request to the agency's custodian of public records as provided in paragraph (1)(b) if the agency does not prominently post the contact information for the agency's custodian of public records in the agency's primary administrative building in which public records are routinely created, sent, received, maintained.

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Pursuant to Florida Statute 119.12(2) the contact information for the School's custodian of public records is as follows:

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Name: Cindy Gilmore

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Email: cgilmore@greenappleschools.com

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Phone Number: 321-676-8737

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Primary Address of Schools where records are routinely created, sent, received, maintained, and requested:

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Odyssey Charter Jr/Sr High
1350 Wyoming Drive SE
Palm Bay, FL 32909

To review the Odyssey Charter School, Inc. Public Records Policy in its entirety, click here.

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