Butte School District

THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES

1401

Records Available to the Public

All District records except those restricted by state and federal law shall be available to citizens for inspection at the Clerk's office.

Any individual may request public information from the district. The district shall make the means of requesting public information accessible to all persons.

Upon receiving a request for public information, the district shall respond in a timely manner to the requesting person by:

a. Making the public information available for inspection and copying by the requesting person; or

b. Providing the requesting person with an estimate of the time it will take to fulfill the request if the public information cannot be readily identified and gathered and any fees that may be charged.

The District may charge a fee for fulfilling a public information request as follows:

1. Fees for making public information maintained by the District available for inspection and copying by the requesting person at the District business office. If the District incurs a cost, the District may only charge for it once pursuant to the following factors, which may include but are not limited to:

(a) fees not exceeding $25 an hour for searching for, gathering, reviewing, processing, and providing information in the most cost-efficient and timely manner possible;

(b) the actual cost to fulfill the request,

(c) subject to the $25 per hour limit provided in (a), the cost of providing the public information to the requester, including but not limited to copying and media costs;

(d) a convenience fee as provided in 2-17-1102, if applicable; and

(e) other reasonable costs directly incurred by the District.

2. Fees for fulfilling a request for a single, specific, clearly identifiable, and readily available public record. If the District incurs a cost, the District pursuant to the following factors, which may include but are not limited to:

(a) fees not exceeding $25 an hour for gathering, reviewing, processing, and providing information in the most cost-efficient and timely manner possible;

(b) the actual cost to fulfill the request, subject to the $25 per hour limit provided in (a);

(c) the cost of providing the public information to the requester, including but not limited to scanning, copying, media, postage, and shipping costs;

(d) a convenience fee as provided in 2-17-1102, if applicable; and

(e) other reasonable costs directly incurred by the District.

3. Fees for fulfilling a request for public information that is not a request for a single, specific, clearly identifiable, and readily available public record:

If the District incurs a cost, the District may only charge for it once pursuant to the following factors. After the first hour of service, which is free after the filing fee discussed below is paid, the factors may include but are not limited to:

(a) a filing fee not to exceed $5;

(b) fees not exceeding $25 an hour for searching for, gathering, reviewing, processing, and providing information in the most cost-efficient and timely manner possible;

(d) the cost of providing the public information to the requester, including but not limited to scanning, copying, media, postage, and shipping costs;

(e) a convenience fee as provided in 2-17-1102, if applicable; and

(f) other reasonable costs directly incurred by the District.

The district is not required to alter or customize public information to provide it in a form specified to meet the needs of the requesting person. If the district agrees to a request to customize a records request response, the cost of the customization may be included in the fees charged by the district.

In accordance with § 20-9-213(1), MCA, the record of the accounting of school funds shall be open to public inspection at any meeting of the trustees. A fee may be charged for any copies requested. Copies will be available within a reasonable amount of time following the request.

A written copy of the Board’s minutes shall be available to the general public within five (5) working days following approval of the minutes of the Board. If requested, one (1) free copy shall be provided to local press within five (5) working days following approval by the Board.

Legal Reference:

§ 20-3-323, MCA District policy and record of acts
§ 20-9-213, MCA Duties of trustees

§2-6-1003 MCA Access to Public Information

§2-6-1006 Public Information requests – fee

Cross Reference:

4340 Public Access to District Records

5450 Employee use of Public Electronic Mail, Internet, and Equipment

5450-P(1) Employee use of Public Electronic Mail, Internet, and Equipment - Procedure

5450-NF(1) Employee use of Public Electronic Mail, Internet, and Equipment - Agreement

7326 Documentation and Approval of Claims

7500 Property Records

8430 Records Management