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Carmel Board weighs steps to curb rising FOIL and FERPA document-search costs
Summary
Trustees and the superintendent discussed a spike in public-records and FERPA requests — about 140 in a year — and explored options including a Committee on Open Government advisory opinion, vendor changes, a public FAQ/FOIL page and a dedicated coordinator to reduce legal and staff costs.
The Carmel Central School District board debated how to reduce mounting costs from public-records and student-records requests, hearing that the district handled roughly 140 FOIL/FERPA requests over the past year and is paying thousands for email searches.
During the budget and transparency discussion, the superintendent told the board that some email searches cost “about $500 to $800 per search” and that nine recent searches totaled $6,120 for the vendor work. He said the district has also logged many staff hours, including overtime, to process requests and that the “opportunity cost” of diverting administrators to searches is significant.
Trustees and the superintendent discussed several options to cut costs without limiting public access: asking the Committee on Open Government for an advisory opinion; seeking lower-cost search providers or BOCES services; posting commonly requested documents and an FAQ page on the district website; and considering a staff position to manage records requests. One trustee urged caution about asking the committee for an opinion, saying it could have a “chilling effect” on public access; others said an advisory request could identify lawful, practical alternatives.
Board members emphasized they did not support charging residents for FOILs. As one trustee summarized, the goal is to “streamline a system to save money and also to alleviate the workload” while preserving community members’ rights to information. The administration said it would pursue lower-cost vendors, explore a public FOIL/FAQ page, and report back on options and any recommended next steps.
The discussion produced no formal policy change at the meeting; the board asked administration to research vendor alternatives and the feasibility of posting frequently requested documents and to draft language for a possible advisory request.
