Request for Records
Open Records/Information Requests
Public information requests, sometimes called Open Records Requests, are handled by Carroll ISD staff with assistance from the school attorney. One exception involves student records. Requests for student records by that student's parent or guardian may be handled directly by the principal at the school campus. Board policy permits the principal to provide one copy of the student's educational record for the parent or guardian free of charge. Any additional copies will require copy charges per Board Policy. Requests for Special Education records may be submitted to the Special Programs Department. If any part of a written request for student records includes information that might be deemed private under state or federal law, the written request will be forwarded to the Superintendent's Office and ultimately to the Attorney General's Office for processing.
Carroll ISD works to meet information requests in compliance with state and federal laws. To the extent possible, requests are handled in the order they are received. By law, Carroll ISD has 10 business days to determine whether or not to seek an Attorney General's ruling regarding information that may be excepted from public disclosure.
When making your request, include enough description and detail about the information requested to enable Carroll ISD to accurately identify and locate the information you want. If a request is overly broad or otherwise unclear, Carroll ISD may ask for the request to be clarified delaying the production of records. If Carroll ISD asks for clarification and you fail to respond, after sixtyone days the request is considered automatically withdrawn.
The request must ask for records or information already in existence. In responding to requests, Carroll ISD is not required to:
- Prepare or Create New Information
- Prepare Answers to Questions
- Perform General or Legal Research
Please note, this is not the appropriate process to request transcripts or education records. Education records, as defined by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (“FERPA”) are confidential and are not subject to the Texas Public Information Act. Therefore, in order to receive education records related to a student, a request must be submitted to the Carroll ISD campus the student attends or most recently attended.
Cost of Records
You must respond to any written estimate of charges within 10 business days of the date the governmental body sent it or the request is considered automatically withdrawn.
Make a timely payment for all charges.
A governmental body may adopt a monthly or yearly time limit. When a requester exceeds 10 hours of total labor an additional 20% will be added to your request for the remainder of the school year. This limit resets on August 1st of every year.