California Public Records Act Requests
As a public agency, Orange Unified School District adheres to the California Public Records Act (CPRA), which requires that governmental records shall be disclosed to the public, upon request, unless there is a specific reason not to do so. The Office of the Superintendent processes requests for public records of the District. This webpage provides community members with an efficient way to submit requests for records and access previously requested records.
Definition of Public Record
The CPRA defines public records as including “any writing containing information relating to the conduct of the public’s business prepared, owned, used, or retained” by the District. For a record to be disclosable under the CPRA, it must be related “to the conduct of the public’s business” and “prepared, owned, used, or retained by” the District. Student records are not considered public records. The CPRA does not require the District to create or prepare a record or document that does not exist at the time of the request. If producing records with requested information requires data compilation, extraction, or programming, the CPRA provides that the requester bears the cost of producing the record. The district will advise the requester of the cost, if any, involved in producing a record that requires data compilation.
Exemptions
The CPRA recognizes exemptions that permit withholding records from disclosure. Common exemptions include personnel or medical records, preliminary drafts or memoranda that are not retained in the ordinary course of business, investigative records, and records subject to privilege, such as attorney-client communications. Should a portion of a disclosable record contain confidential information, the District will redact such information before it is disclosed.
California Public Records Act Process
Requests for public records can be emailed to publicrecords@orangeusd.org or mailed to the following address:
Public Records Act Requests
Attn: Public Records
Orange Unified School District
1401 N. Handy St.
Orange, CA 92867
Upon receiving a request, the District will first determine whether it has responsive public records. Within ten (10) days, the District will provide an initial response that includes:
- whether the District requires an extension of time to determine if there are records responsive to the request;
- and/or an estimated date on which the disclosable records will be available
Most records can be provided electronically. For those that are not available in electronic format or for records specifically requested in hard copy, the District charges 15 cents per page for duplication of paper copies as authorized by Government Code section 6253. Once the records are gathered, the requester will be notified of the cost, and copies will be made available after the applicable fee is paid.