Right To Know Procedures
The following procedures are utilized for requesting records from the Rockwood Area School District under Pennsylvania’s Right-to-Know Law, 65 P.S. 66.1-66.9. s Public Records Policy (Board Policy Number #801).
- A written request for access to a public record shall be submitted on the required form(s) and addressed to the open records officer. Each request must include the following information:
- Identification or description of the requested record, in sufficient detail.
- Medium in which the record is requested.
- Name and Address of individual to receive the district’s response.
The district shall not require an explanation of the reason for the intended use of the required record, unless otherwise required by law.
- All requests for records shall be addressed as follows:
Rockwood Area School District 439 Somerset Avenue
Rockwood, Pa. 15557
Open Records Officer - Mr. Jordan J. Svonavec
e-mail: jsvonavec@rockwoodschools.org - All requests shall be in writing and shall be sent to the Rockwood Area School District by mail, facsimile to (814)-926-2880, e-mail or delivered in person during the Rockwood Area School District’s regular business hours of 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday except holidays and other official business office closings.
- If a written request for records is granted, the following fees will be charged: Photocopies: $0.25 per copy
Certification of a Record: $1.00 per record (does not include notarization fees)
Specialized Documents: Actual Cost Facsimile/Other Media: Actual Cost
Conversion to Paper: If a record is only maintained electronically or in other non-paper media, duplication fees shall be limited to the lesser of the fee for duplication on paper or the fee for duplication in the original media unless the requester specifically requests for the record to be duplicated in the more expensive medium.
Postage Fees: Fees for Postage may not exceed the actual cost of mailing.
A photocopy is either a single-sided copy or one side of a double-sided copy of a standard 8.5” x 11” page. The Rockwood Area School District may require a requester to prepay an estimate of the fees listed, if the fees required to fulfill the request are expected to exceed $50.00. All costs must be paid by certified check or money order made payable to Rockwood Area School District.
Appeals: Appeals may be made directly to the Office of Open Records at the following website: http://openrecords.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt
- When responding to a request for access, the district is not required to create a record that does not exist nor to compile, maintain, format, or organize a record in a manner in which the district does not use. Information shall be made available to persons with disabilities in appropriate format, upon request and with sufficient advanced notice.
- Received requests are date/time stamped to show documented receipt of the request.
- If the request creates any question in regards to providing the information requested, the request is immediately forwarded to the school district solicitor for review.
- If the request falls within normal Right-To-Know guidelines, the response is generated and sent to the requester within the five (5) days required for the response. Any necessary invoicing is included with the response.
- If the solicitor deems an extension or denial is necessary, the solicitor will respond in writing to the requestor with a copy of the response letter copied to the district.
- The District will then work on the compiling of the information requested and respond to the requestor within the appropriate timeline extension.
- If there is an appeal to a denial, all information is turned over to the solicitor for proper defending and processing.
- The original request, any correspondence, and the provided information or denial notification are filed in the Business Office for proper record keeping purposes.