Opinion
Opinion By: Jack Conway, Attorney General; Amye L. Bensenhaver, Assistant Attorney General
Open Records Decision
The question presented in this appeal is whether the University of Kentucky violated the Open Records Act in denying Kentucky Kernel Managing Editor Sean Rose's February 5, 2008, request for "access to or copies of all emails sent through Student Government's executive branch listserv since April 25, 2007." For the reasons that follow, we find that although its initial response was inadequate, the University properly denied Mr. Rose's request in supplemental correspondence when it invoked 20 U.S.C. § 1232g (b)(1), the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, incorporated into the Open Records Act by KRS 61.878(1)(k). The access restrictions applicable to student "education records" set forth therein have been interpreted by the Family Policy Compliance Office of the United State Department of Education, the federal agency responsible for the administration of FERPA, to apply to postings on the SGA/EB listserv. It is for this reason that we affirm the University's denial of Mr. Rose's request. However, no inference should be drawn from this decision that listservs maintained by governmental entities, generally, enjoy protection from public inspection under the Open Records Act.
In a response dated February 8, 2008, the University's Official Records Custodian, Frank Butler, denied Mr. Rose's "request for the Student Government executive branch listserv emails pursuant to KRS 61.878(i) and (j) [sic]." Mr. Butler quoted these exceptions but did not otherwise elaborate. 1 Shortly thereafter, Mr. Rose initiated this appeal questioning the University's reliance on KRS 61.878(1)(i) and (j) "because this is an official email account of a governing body that receives funding from student fees as well as funding from a publicly funded university . . .[, and t]he email account should be used for official purposes."
In supplemental correspondence directed to this office following commencement of Mr. Rose's appeal, the University elaborated on its position relative to the application of KRS 61.878(1)(i) and (j) to the requested records, and invoked KRS 61.878(1)(a) and (k) as additional bases for denying his request. Identifying the postings at issue as "ones that have been sent by University students over the SGA/EB listserv, " the University described the listserv as:
A special usage of e-mail that allows for communication or dialogue between multiple subscribers through the use of a "reflector," which is a single e-mail address that, when designated as the recipient of the message, will send a copy of that message to all of the subscribers . . . . [A] listserv acts as the platform for the exchange of ideas and posting of information for the use or consideration of its subscribers.
Analogizing the listserv to "inter- or intra-office conferences, bulletin boards, and memoranda," the University characterized listservs and emails as "one of the necessary tools of carving out day-to-day business and official functions."
Continuing, the University calculated the volume of postings to the University's 12,824 listservs in a six month period at 403,029 to a total of 41,581,451 recipients, noting that these listservs "allow for instant, informal exchanges such as class discussions, or, in this case, discussions among student officers of the SGA." The University distinguished the listserv at issue in this appeal from the collective body of listservs at the University on the basis that the postings it contains "directly concern a group of no more than 10 subscribers, all of whom either are or were students in attendance at the University . . . mak[ing] the identities of those who send or receive messages on the SGA/EB listserv easily traceable."
The University then described the content of the postings, indicating that:
a substantial percentage . . . concern scheduling issues such as upcoming meetings or events. Some of the postings discuss thoughts or ideas about those meetings or events, and some discuss thoughts or issues before the SGA. Candidly, many postings are simply personal, informal comments, discussions, or dialogue among the listserv's subscribers.
None of the postings, the University noted, "contain or announce any 'final action' by the SGA's Executive Branch."
Having laid this groundwork, the University proceeded to advance three arguments in support of nondisclosure of the requested records. Because the issue of privacy under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act is dispositive of this matter, we refrain from commenting on the remaining two.
The University characterized the disputed postings as "education records" the disclosure of which is proscribed as to anyone except eligible students or parents of minor students. It was the University's position that "the emails contain information about students, are maintained by an educational institution, and are not covered by any one of the limited exceptions to FERPA's definition of the term. See 20 U.S.C. 1232g(a)(4)(B)." The University asserted:
[T]he SGA's officers' positions cannot be separated from their roles as students of the University. The SGA officers' positions are inherently dependent on -- not exclusive of -- their capacities as students.
In support, the University cited Article II, Section 1(b) of the SGA Constitution. As a corollary of its position that FERPA authorizes nondisclosure of the requested records, the University maintained that the federal act "precludes the University from tendering the requested SGA/EB listserv postings to the Attorney General for any in-camera inspection in this case." Citing, July 25, 2006, Family Policy Compliance Office letter to the Texas Attorney General re: Disclosure of Education Records by School District.
KRS 61.878(l)(k) permits an agency to withhold "[a]ll public records or information the disclosure of which is prohibited by federal law or regulation. " This provision incorporates 20 U.S.C. § 1232g, FERPA, a federal statute which regulates access to "educational records." FERPA precludes the disclosure of personally identifiable student information to third parties in the absence of a parent or eligible student's prior written consent. Both the Kentucky Supreme Court and this office have recognized that FERPA operates as a bar to disclosure of education records, and that FERPA is incorporated into the Open Records Act by KRS 61.878(1)(k). Hardin County Schools v. Foster, Ky., 40 S.W.3d 865 (2001); 99-ORD-217, inter alia.
20 U.S.C. § 1232g(b)(1) provides:
No funds shall be made available under any applicable program to any educational agency or institution which has a policy or practice of permitting the release of education records (or personally identifiable information contained therein other than directory information [meaning information relating to a student not normally considered confidential including the student's name, address, telephone listing, and date and place of birth]) of students without written consent of their parents to any individual, agency, or organization, other than [to certain enumerated officials and organizations, or in connection with certain activities]. . . .
The term "education records" is expansively defined at 20 U.S.C. § 1232g(4)(A) as "those records, files, documents, and other materials which (i) contain information directly related to a student; and (ii) are maintained by an educational agency or institution or by a person acting for such agency or institution." FERPA restricts access to "education records (or personally identifiable information contained therein). . ." on pain of withdrawal of federal funds. Among the definitions of "personally identifiable information" found at 34 CFR § 99.3 is "[o]ther information that would make the student's identity easily traceable."
In enacting FERPA, Congress intended "to end denial of access to parents and students, and to prevent violations of student and family privacy rights by the release of unscreened records to third parties without parental or student consent." Note, "Federal Genesis of Comprehensive Protection of Student Educational Record Rights: The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974," 61 Iowa Law Review 74 (1975). With respect to parental access to their children's records, the Act is said to serve two purposes:
First, the student education records contain information that the parent needs in order to help plan the student's future. It can scarcely be denied that items such as educational testing results, attitudinal and behavioral studies, and disciplinary records relating to the student, are needed in order to make educational and vocational decisions for the student. Second, and equally important, parental access is needed to facilitate the correction of erroneous and harmful material that makes its way into students' files. Such inaccurate materials can have devastatingly negative effects on the academic future and job prospects of students if parents are unaware of their presence in the record and cannot have them corrected.
Id. at 94. While the Open Records and Open Meetings Acts affirm the public's interest in the open discussion of a public agency, 2 it is incontrovertible that the postings at issue fall within the broad parameters of the definition of "education records" found at 20 U.S.C. § 1232g(4)(A) insofar as they "contain information directly related to a student" and are "maintained by an educational institution, " to wit, the University.
On March 11, 2008, the University's position was confirmed by the Family Policy Compliance Office of the United States Department of Education, the federal agency responsible for providing technical assistance to educational agencies and institutions to insure compliance with the statute and regulations. In a telephone conversation with the undersigned Assistant Attorney General, Program Specialist Bernie Cieplak advised that FPCO concurred with the University in its view that because the SGA officers' positions are conditioned upon their status as full-time students, the postings they generate on the SGA/EB listserv must be considered "education records" for purposes of FERPA analysis. The University therefore risks forfeiture of federal funding if the postings are released.
In so holding, we do not establish a general rule vis-a-vis all listservs maintained by governmental entities. The University characterizes a listserv as "a special usage of email, " and both the courts and this office have recognized that email is a public record that may or may not enjoy statutory protection. Baker v. Jones, 199 S.W.3d 749 (Ky. App. 2006); 05-ORD-280 (enclosed). In the latter open records decision, for example, this office analyzed a series of decisions dealing with access to intra- and interagency email communications, contrasting the "conversational-type communications" at issue in 05-ORD-144, which were deemed to be "of a transitory nature, devoid of meaningful value to the agency" and consisting of "neither drafts, notes, or correspondence with private individuals, nor subjective expressions of opinion . . . [or] recommendation with the emails at issue in 05-ORD-210 and 05-ORD-221. In the latter decisions, we affirmed, in part or in whole, agency denial of access to emails containing recommendations and opinion, concluding that the emails fell squarely within the parameters of KRS 61.878(1)(i) and (j). A copy of 05-ORD-280 is attached hereto and incorporated by reference.
In each of the referenced open records decisions, along with many others, this office exercised its prerogative under KRS 61.880(2)(c) by conducting an in camera inspection of the requested emails to determine if the agency against which the appeal was brought properly denied access to those records. It has been, and remains, our practice to review electronic data on a case-by-case basis.
A party aggrieved by this decision may appeal it by initiating action in the appropriate circuit court pursuant to KRS 61.880(5) and KRS 61.882. Pursuant to KRS 61.880(3), the Attorney General should be notified of any action in circuit court, but should not be named as a party in that action or in any subsequent proceeding.
Footnotes
Footnotes
1 This response was inadequate in light of the express language of KRS 61.880(1), requiring "a statement of the specific exception authorizing the withholding of the record and a brief explanation of how the exception applies to the record withheld." (Emphasis added.) In construing this provision, the Kentucky Court of Appeals has determined that KRS 61.880(1) "requires the custodian of records to provide particular and detailed information in response to a request for documents . . . ." Edmondson v. Alig, 926 S.W.2d 856, 858 (Ky. App. 1996) (emphasis added.) The University's original response contained neither and therefore constituted a violation of KRS 61.880(1).
2 We would be remiss in failing to identify the potential open meetings issues which these listserv postings raise. The Open Meetings Act "prohibits a quorum of the members of a public agency from discussing public business in private or meeting in numbers less than a quorum for the express purpose of avoiding the requirements of the Act." Yeoman v. Commonwealth of Kentucky, Health Policy Board, 983 S.W.2d 459, 474 (Ky. 1998).