Source: https://texasattorneygeneral.gov/opinions/openrecords/49cornyn/orl/2000/htm/or200002840.htm
Timestamp: 2017-07-26 18:29:15
Document Index: 390479746

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 1232', '§ 552', '§ 1232', '§ 99', '§ 552', '§ 1232', '§ 552', '§ 552', '§ 552', '§ 552', '§ 552', '§ 552', '§ 552', '§ 552', '§ 552', '§ 552', '§ 552', '§ 552', '§ 552']

Cornyn Open Records Letter Ruling July 26, 2000
Mr. S. Anthony Safi
El Paso, Texas 79950-1977
OR2000-2840
Dear Mr. Safi:
ID# 137475.
The El Paso Independent School District (the "district"), which you represent, received a
request for information pertaining to teachers involved in grade alterations. You seek a
ruling as to whether a portion of the requested information is excepted from public
disclosure. You inform this office that you intend to withhold personally identifiable
information regarding students. You take no position with regard to other responsive
information. You advise us that you have provided notice of the request for information to
a teacher, pursuant to section 552.305(d) of the Government Code, and that the teacher's
representative has objected to the release of information regarding the teacher. You have
provided copies of that correspondence. This office has received no correspondence directly
from the teacher or from the teacher's representative.(1) We also are in receipt of your letter dated June 8, 2000, in which you advise us of your belief that submission of the requested information to this office is unnecessary. We have considered your other submissions to this
office, including the letter to the district from the teacher's representative dated
You indicate that the requested information includes "personally identifiable student
information" that the district intends to withhold. We understand you to mean information that must be withheld from disclosure under sections 552.026, 552.101, and 552.114 of the
Government Code and the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974
("FERPA"), 20 U.S.C. § 1232g. Section 552.101 of the Government Code excepts from
required public disclosure "information considered to be confidential by law, either
constitutional, statutory, or by judicial decision." Gov't Code § 552.101. Section 552.101
encompasses information that is made confidential by other statutes. See Open Records
Decision No. 658 at 4 (1998). FERPA provides that no federal funds will be made available
under any applicable program to an educational agency or institution that releases personally
identifiable information, other than directory information, contained in a student's education
records to anyone but certain enumerated federal, state, and local officials and institutions,
unless otherwise authorized by the student's parent. See 20 U.S.C. § 1232g(b)(1); see also 34 C.F.R. § 99.3 (defining personally identifiable information). Section 552.026 of the
Government Code incorporates FERPA into chapter 552 of the Government Code. See Open
Records Decision No. 634 at 6-8 (1995). Section 552.026 provides as follows:
This chapter does not require the release of information contained in
education records of an educational agency or institution, except in
conformity with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, Sec.
513, Pub. L. No. 93-380, 20 U.S.C. Sec. 1232g.
Gov't Code § 552.026. "Education records" under FERPA are those records that contain
information directly related to a student and that are maintained by an educational agency or
institution or by a person acting for such agency or institution. See 20 U.S.C.
§ 1232g(a)(4)(A). Information must be withheld from required public disclosure under
FERPA only to the extent "reasonable and necessary to avoid personally identifying a
particular student." See Open Records Decision Nos. 332 at 3 (1982), 206 at 2 (1978).
Section 552.114(a) of the Government Code requires that the district withhold "information
in a student record at an educational institution funded wholly or partly by state revenue." Gov't Code § 552.114(a). This office generally has treated "student record" information
under section 552.114(a) as the equivalent of "education record" information that is protected
by FERPA. See Open Records Decision No. 634 at 5 (1995).
In Open Records Decision No. 634 (1995), this office concluded that: (1) an educational
FERPA and excepted from required public disclosure by sections 552.026 and 552.101 of
the Government Code without the necessity of requesting an attorney general decision as to
those exceptions, and (2) an educational agency or institution that is state-funded may
withhold from public disclosure information that is excepted from required public disclosure
by section 552.114 of the Government Code as a "student record," insofar as the "student
record" is protected by FERPA, without the necessity of requesting an attorney general
decision as to that exception. See Open Records Decision No. 634 at 6-8 (1995). Thus, as
a state-funded educational agency or institution, the district may withhold from public
disclosure any information that is protected by FERPA and excepted from public disclosure
under sections 552.026 and 552.101 of the Government Code and any student record that is
excepted from disclosure under section 552.114 of the Government Code, insofar as the
student record is excepted under FERPA.(2)
You also seek to withhold other responsive information that you do not claim is protected
from disclosure under FERPA and sections 552.026, 552.101, and 552.114. However, the
district has not submitted that information, or a representative sample of that information,
to this office. Section 552.301 of the Government Code prescribes the procedures that a
governmental body must follow when it receives a written request for information and seeks
to withhold all or part of that information from the public. Section 552.301 provides in
relevant part that "[a] governmental body that requests an attorney general decision . . . must
within a reasonable time but not later than the 15th business day after the date of receiving
the written request . . . submit to the attorney general . . . a copy of the specific information
requested, or submit representative samples of the information if a voluminous amount of
information was requested[.]" Gov't Code § 552.301(e)(1)(D). Section 552.302 of the
Government Code provides as follows:
If a governmental body does not request an attorney general decision as
provided by Section 552.301 and provide the requestor with the information
required by Section 552.301(d), the information requested in writing is
presumed to be subject to required public disclosure and must be released
unless there is a compelling reason to withhold the information.
Gov't Code § 552.302 (emphasis added). In declining to submit to this office information
that the district does not believe is protected from disclosure under FERPA and sections
552.026, 552.101, and 552.114 of the Government Code, the district has failed to comply
with section 552.301(e)(1)(D) in requesting this letter ruling. Accordingly, the information
requested in writing is presumed to be subject to required public disclosure and must be
released, unless there is a compelling reason to withhold any of that information from the
public. See Gov't Code § 552.302; see also Hancock v. State Bd. of Ins., 797 S.W.2d 379, 380-81 (Tex. App.--Austin 1990, no writ); Open Records Decision No. 630 at 3 (1994).
A claim that the requested information is deemed confidential under section 552.101 of the
Government Code in conjunction with some other source of law can furnish a compelling
reason sufficient to overcome the operation of section 552.302. See Gov't Code § 552.101;
Open Records Decision Nos. 630 at 3 (1994), 150 (1977). The teacher's representative
expresses a strong objection to the release of the information in question. However, neither
he nor you have raised any specific exception to the disclosure of that information or made
any specific showing as to why it should be withheld from the public. See Gov't Code
§§ 552.301(b), (e)(1)(A), 552.305(b), (c). Furthermore, as the district has not submitted the
information in question to this office, we have no basis for finding that any of that
information is confidential. Therefore, under section 552.302, we have no alternative but to
order you to release any responsive information that is not protected by FERPA and
sections 552.026, 552.101, and 552.114 of the Government Code. If you believe that the
information in question is confidential and may not lawfully be released, then you must
challenge this ruling in court as outlined below. We caution the district that chapter 552 of
the Government Code prescribes criminal penalties for the release of confidential
information. See Gov't Code §§ 552.007(a), 552.101, 552.352.
§ 552.353(b)(3), (c). If the governmental body does not appeal this ruling and the
have the right to file suit against the governmental body to enforce this ruling. Id. § 552.321(a).
that failure to the attorney general's Open Government Hotline, toll free, at 877/673-6839. The requestor may also file a complaint with the district or county attorney. Id. § 552.3215(e).
Ref:	ID# 137906
cc:	Mr. Gustavo Reveles
Mr.Greg Goga
TSTA UniServ Representative
El Paso Resource Center
UniServ Region 32/33
7500 Viscount, Suite 130
1. Section 552.305 of the Government Code permits a governmental body to decline to release information that may implicate a third party's privacy or property interests in order to seek an attorney general decision as to whether that information is excepted from disclosure. See Gov't Code § 552.305(a). Pursuant to section 552.305, the governmental body may provide written notice to an affected third party of a request for information and rely on that party to submit arguments as to why the information should be withheld from disclosure. Id. § 552.305(b)-(d). A third party to whom notice is given under section 552.305(d) has ten business days from the date of the party's receipt of the notice to submit to the attorney general that party's reasons, if any, why the requested information should be withheld from the public. Id. § 552.305(d)(2).
2. Please note that if an educational agency or institution wishes to seek an attorney general decision and raise exceptions to the disclosure of requested records, and those records contain any information that is protected from disclosure under FERPA and sections 552.026, 552.101, and 552.114, the educational agency or institution may either (1) redact the protected information in compliance with Open Records Decision No. 634 (1995) and submit the redacted records to this office for a ruling on any other exceptions that the educational agency or institution deems to be applicable, or (2) submit the requested records, without redactions, and raise the educational agency or institution's exceptions to disclosure, including FERPA and sections 552.026, 552.101, and 552.114. See also Office of the Attorney General, 2000 Public Information Handbook at 124 n.593. POST OFFICE BOX 12548, AUSTIN, TEXAS 78711-2548 TEL: (512) 463-2100 WEB: WWW.OAG.STATE.TX.US