Board reviews policy change allowing suspension of data requests if requester is unreachable for five days

Edina Public Schools administrators presented a revision to Policy 113 on July 14 that incorporates a recent statutory change allowing school districts to suspend data-inspection requests if the requester does not make contact within five days.

The director of marketing and communications explained the new statute requires requesters to remain in contact within a five-day window for inspection requests; if district staff cannot reach the requester within that period, the district may suspend processing. District counsel advised that this new five-day inspection-contact rule does not alter separate deadlines for responding to requests for summary data, which remain subject to a 10-day response requirement.

Board members asked whether the district has seen growth in the number or complexity of data requests. The director of communications and operations said anecdotal patterns show a shift from individual citizen queries to organizational requests for procurement and spending data; overall volume was estimated at about 15–20 requests per school year. Administrators said the time required to fulfill requests varies with scope — requests for broad invoice sets can be resource-intensive — and noted that some requests can tie up email systems or require legal review.

A board member proposed minor editorial fixes to the policy's numbering and references; administrators said they would correct formatting and definitional items before the next step in the policy process.