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The Montesano School District is committed to operating openly under the Washington Public Records Act. Requests must be identifiable — give us a reasonable description so we can find what you want.
These are the District’s official public records procedures, established by the Superintendent under Board Policy 4040.
Within five (5) business days of receiving a request, the district will do one or more of the following:
Public records are available for inspection during normal business hours at the district office. Records must be inspected on-site, and a district employee will be present during inspection. There is no cost to inspect district records.
The process for requesting electronic public records is the same as for paper records. To assist the district in responding efficiently, requestors should provide specific search terms that will help the Public Records Officer locate the relevant records.
The cost of providing photocopies or printed copies of electronic records is fifteen (15) cents per page when more than 25 pages are provided. Payment may be made by cash, check, or money order payable to the district. The district will also charge actual costs of mailing, including the cost of the shipping container or envelope. Because the Board has found that calculating the actual per-request cost of producing records is unduly burdensome, the District charges the default fees authorized by RCW 42.56.120. See Board Policy 4040.
The charges for providing electronic records are as follows:
If requested, the district will provide a summary of applicable charges before any copies are made. Requestors may revise their request to reduce charges. Payment is required before copies are provided.
The district will not impose charges for access to or downloading of records that the district routinely posts on its website, unless the requestor has specifically asked for copies through other means.
Some records are exempt from disclosure, in whole or in part, under specific exemptions in RCW 42.56 or other state and federal laws. If the district determines that a record or portion of a record is exempt, the Public Records Officer will provide a written explanation identifying the specific exemption and how it applies.
The district has identified the following laws that may exempt disclosure of certain records:
Any person who objects to the denial or partial denial of a records request may petition the Public Records Officer in writing for a review. The petition should include a copy of or reference to the original denial. The district will consider the petition and respond within two (2) business days.
Under RCW 42.56.070(4), the Board of Directors has determined by formal resolution that — because of the tremendous volume and diversity of records a public school district continuously generates — maintaining a current index of all of the District's records would be impracticable, unduly burdensome, and would ultimately interfere with the operational work of the District. The District therefore does not maintain a comprehensive index of its public records. Any indexes the District uses internally remain available for public inspection on request. See Board Policy 4040.
The District retains and destroys its public records in accordance with RCW 40.14 and the records retention schedules approved by the Washington State Archives (Office of the Secretary of State) — the Local Government Common Records Retention Schedule (CORE) and the Public Schools (K–12) Records Retention Schedule. A record that has already been lawfully destroyed under an approved retention schedule before a request is received no longer exists as a District record and cannot be produced.
Retention schedules are published by the Washington State Archives: