Other (indicate in message) Submitted: March 27, 2023 | Updated: August 4, 2023

(March 2023) Request for Emereau Bladen Charter School: All current employee salaries as of the present day.

Hello Elizabeth (or Emereau: Bladen Charter School Records Officer),

I'd like to make a public records request for the following information under NC Public Records Law.
Ref: https://www.ncleg.net/enactedlegislation/statutes/html/bychapter/chapter_132.html

** Please note that by submitting this request, I am NOT agreeing to pay any potential fees or associated costs related to my request. If it is not possible to process the request without incurring fees, then please let me know the itemized potential cost and explanations for those charges upfront, and DO NOT proceed until I can respond.

** I am simply requesting an electronic copy of an electronic record, if one exists. I am NOT asking to come in person to inspect, nor to obtain a printed copy of, this electronic record. I’m requesting explicitly that any responsive info be provided to me via an electronic medium / format (in which the copy of this record should already exist). I know that it should be possible to fulfill a records request like this one, as many other charter schools in NC have already done so.

I do not have any additional or further clarifying info to provide to narrow this request, other than what you see in the message below. If it is unclear, or you are unable to fulfill any or all parts of this request, please specifically cite where a reason for denial is justified under NC Public Records Law.**

Please provide a list of ALL current Emereau Bladen Charter School Employees / Staff and their Salaries, as of the present day (date the query is performed). Please include the following:

1. Employee first / last name
2. Current position / title / department
3. Date of hire
4. Current salary (including hourly wage, hourly rate, or salary -- whichever is applicable.)

If any / all of this info is already publicly available online, then please provide a link to where it can be accessed.
——————

By Law I am not required to provide a name or address to associate with a public records request, but in order to move things along I’d like to clarify that this request is being made by:

Sunshine Request
PO Box 17391
Asheville, NC 28816

The request has been sent solely from the email address [email protected] . If anyone other than that email address contacts you to pursue a similar request, it did not come from me or my Team. Please do not commingle or treat that as an alteration or cancellation of my request – I intend to continue to pursue my request.

Thank you for your assistance!

Editor’s Note: Sunshine Request makes no claim as to the veracity of any statements or information contained in any of the requests, or public records, we receive.

Editor’s Note 03/27/23: The request above has been revised for clarity.

Date sent in to Sunshine: 03/25/23
Original Subject: Request for Salaries of All Current and Past Employees of Emereau Bladen Charter School (2020 to present)
Original Message: I would like to see a listing of all salaries and positions for current and past employees of Emereau Bladen Charter School from 2020 to present.
https://www.emereau.org/”
Government Entity: Other (indicate in message)
Start Date / End Date: January 01, 2020 – N/A. Blank.

The sender indicated in their original message that the responsive records should be specific to “January 01, 2020 – present”. We have revised this instead to say “… as of the present day”. Based on our experience requesting salary data from many other entities – it is unlikely that Emereau will be able to query the data in that manner (on a specific date in time in the past, or all salaries throughout an entire year, for several years, or “every month of the year, every year”). For some reason, most entities are only able to search for and provide this information “as of the present day”.


Sunshine Request will not fulfill the following types of requests:
  • ☀️ Requests that are incomplete, non-specific, or vague.

While we do proofread requests we receive for general spelling and clarity, we may choose not to fulfill the request if it is incomplete, or it is unclear what specific information the requester hopes to receive. In this case, the sender may rewrite and resubmit the request.

It’s the requester’s responsibility to write the request in a manner that clearly specifies a record that is being requested, and to what government entity it should be sent.

☀️ Please be specific:

It is important that what you are requesting is specific and reasonable, and is an actionable records request. Please specify the exact type of records you’d like to receive, rather than any “possible” or “potential” info that could be searched. Remember that the larger your request, the more time it usually takes to fulfill. Specificity will often help reduce the amount of time needed to process the request.

It is important that a request has a clearly written and complete Subject and Message, and also specifies the Government Entity (or entities), City and/or County, and State to which the request should be sent. If applicable, please also include any responsive timelines for the info that should be requested.

While we do proofread requests we receive for general spelling and clarity, we may choose not to fulfill the request if it is incomplete, or it is unclear what specific info the requester hopes to receive, or if it violates our policies.

Before submitting a request, please take a moment to review our tips for How to write and make a successful request. If you have additional questions about our site or how to make requests, please check out ourFAQs or Policies page.

☀️ Please note that we cannot pay any fees / associated costs related to any of the requests on our site. If it is not possible for a Government Agency to process our request without incurring fees, then it is the responsibility of that Agency to let us know what the potential costs may be — at which point we will ask that they cease processing the request. We will mark the request as “Completed” on our site, and the sender can contact the Government Agency directly, should they wish to further pursue a request.

Thank you for using Sunshine Request!

Status: Completed

Activity:

  • August 4, 2023 2:59 pm

    8 months ago

    from: Sunshine Request <[email protected]>
    to: Polly Hancock <[email protected]>
    date: Aug 4, 2023, 2:59 PM
    subject: Re: Sorry for the delay

     

    Hi Polly,

     

    I picked up the flashdrive from USPS today. I successfully downloaded the file, reviewed the info therein, and have uploaded it to our website.

     

    I have now marked this records request as “Completed” on our site.

     

    Thank you for your assistance.

    Have a good weekend!

     

    ~ Lauren (and the Sunshine Request Team)

     

    **Editor’s Note: Please see the 1 file referenced (“[Downloaded 08/04/23] Sunshine Request for Report.xlsx”) at top left in our Documents section.


    Status: Completed
  • July 28, 2023 11:16 am

    8 months ago

    from: Sunshine Request <[email protected]>
    to: Polly Hancock <[email protected]>
    date: Jul 28, 2023, 11:16 AM
    subject: Re: Sorry for the delay

     

    Hi Polly,

     

    I understand.

     

    As mentioned, I don’t receive a notice of a package’s arrival from USPS. I’ll just have to go in person and keep checking to see if it’s there. For that reason, I’ll only be able to go to the PO Box once next week. I’ll go later in the week, and if it hasn’t arrived then I’ll go again the following week. The item will be sent back to your office in a matter of days, if I do not collect it.

     

    I’ll let you know once it’s been received and I have reviewed the file. If the information fully satisfies my original request, then I will mark it as “Completed” at that time.

     

    In the future, I do hope the school will consider ways in which to make the records request process much simpler. Many schools in NC can fulfill a very basic request like this for salary data, in less than 1 week.

     

    Thank you for your help!

     

    ~ The Sunshine Request Team


    Status: Government Processing Request
  • July 28, 2023 8:52 am

    8 months ago

    from: Polly Hancock <[email protected]>
    to: Sunshine Request <[email protected]>
    date: Jul 28, 2023, 8:52 AM
    subject: Re: Sorry for the delay

     

    It is going in the mail today, and we are sending it with a required signature.
    Polly G Hancock
    Interim Head of School
    Emereau: Bladen Charter
    [email protected]


    Status: Government Processing Request
  • July 27, 2023 1:04 pm

    8 months ago

    from: Sunshine Request <[email protected]>
    to: Polly Hancock <[email protected]>
    date: Jul 27, 2023, 1:04 PM
    subject: Re: Sorry for the delay

     

    Hi Polly,

     

    Thanks for letting me know!

     

    I’ll check the PO Box at some point later next week.

     

    Thank you.

     

    ~ The Sunshine Request Team


    Status: Government Processing Request
  • July 25, 2023 8:57 pm

    8 months ago

    from: Polly Hancock <[email protected]>
    to: Sunshine Request <[email protected]>
    date: Jul 25, 2023, 8:57 PM
    subject: Re: Sorry for the delay

     

    I am planning to put it in the mail tomorrow. All teachers returned to work on Monday and it has been an extremely busy week.

     

    Polly G Hancock
    Interim Head of School
    Emereau: Bladen Charter
    [email protected]


    Status: Government Processing Request
  • July 25, 2023 4:08 pm

    8 months ago

    from: Sunshine Request <[email protected]>
    to: Polly Hancock <[email protected]>
    date: Jul 25, 2023, 4:08 PM
    subject: Re: Sorry for the delay

     

    Hi Polly,

     

    Following up on my previous message:

     

    from: Sunshine Request <[email protected]>
    to: Polly Hancock <[email protected]>
    date: Jul 20, 2023, 2:35 PM
    subject: Re: Sorry for the delay

     

    Please let me know as soon as the flashdrive has been mailed. At that point I will wait a couple days, and then go check to see if it arrived.

     

    It is not feasible for me to go to USPS every day just to check to see if a package has arrived, so I’d really like to avoid having it sent back to your office if I do not know it was sent to me.

     

    So please let me know when it’s sent.

     

    Thank you.


    Status: Follow up
  • July 20, 2023 2:35 pm

    8 months ago

    from: Sunshine Request <[email protected]>
    to: Polly Hancock <[email protected]>
    date: Jul 20, 2023, 2:35 PM
    subject: Re: Sorry for the delay

     

    Hi Polly,

     

    I’m sorry for the delay.

     

    If you can confirm that all of the requested information is going to be contained on that flashdrive, then go ahead and send it. Thank you.

     

    To reiterate, that was:

     

    Please provide a list of ALL current Emereau Bladen Charter School Employees / Staff and their Salaries, as of the present day (date the query is performed). Please include the following:

     

    1. Employee first / last name
    2. Current position / title / department
    3. Date of hire
    4. Current salary (including hourly wage, hourly rate, or salary — whichever is applicable.)

     

    I understand that in this case you have chosen to mail a flashdrive. Please make sure that you notify me when you have mailed the flash drive. Unfortunately, I do not receive any notifications from the post office whenever certified mail is received and being held — other than to have to go in person to keep checking for a notice in the box, and then retrieve an item from the counter. If I do not get there in time, then it sometimes can get sent back to your office within 3 days. I’d like to avoid that happening.

     

    Please mail to:

     

    Sunshine Request

    PO Box 17391

    Asheville, NC 28816

     

    Thank you!


    Status: Clarification Provided
  • July 14, 2023 5:52 pm

    9 months ago

    from: Polly Hancock <[email protected]>
    to: Sunshine Request <[email protected]>
    date: Jul 14, 2023, 5:52 PM
    subject: Re: Sorry for the delay

     

    Hello. I have the information you requested. Our attorney asked for a mailing address so I can send it to you on a flash drive. Please send me the address and I will drop it in the mail as soon as possible. Thank you.
    Polly G Hancock
    Interim Head of School
    Emereau: Bladen Charter
    [email protected]


    Status: Clarification Requested
  • July 10, 2023 9:16 am

    9 months ago

    from: Polly Hancock <[email protected]>
    to: Sunshine Request <[email protected]>
    date: Jul 10, 2023, 9:16 AM
    subject: Re: Sorry for the delay

     

    Good morning. I am back in the office today, and we are working on this for you. Our attorney advised us to put it on a flash drive and mail it to you because of a security breach we had back in the spring. Please send me the mailing address for us to send it to. Thank you.
    Polly G Hancock
    Interim Head of School
    Emereau: Bladen Charter
    [email protected]


    Status: Response Received from Government
  • July 6, 2023 2:30 pm

    9 months ago

    from: Sunshine Request <[email protected]>
    to: Polly Hancock <[email protected]>
    date: Jul 6, 2023, 2:30 PM
    subject: Re: Sorry for the delay

     

    Hi Polly,

     

    Thanks for your response.

     

    There have been many emails exchanged with Elizabeth Cole about this particular request since it was first submitted on March 28, 2023.

     

    Our Team posts all communications (and any results) about a records request we make, on our website for the benefit of the public. Once you are back in the office — if you’d like to review our previous correspondences with Elizabeth, you can do so via the following web link:
    (March 2023) Request for Emereau Bladen Charter School: All current employee salaries as of the present day.

     

    You can see that Elizabeth’s most recent replies / explanations about fees do not make sense, and we have been following up asking for clarification. The type of salary data we’ve requested (Name, Title, Salary, Hire Date) is very simple to provide, and it’s very commonly produced as a public record. Over the years we’ve submitted 100 or more requests for salary data to government entities across North Carolina — Many schools around the state fulfill requests like this via email within 1 week, and in many cases 1 day.

     

    Thank you!

     

    ~ The Sunshine Request Team


    Status: Government Processing Request
  • July 1, 2023 10:53 am

    9 months ago

    from: Polly Hancock <[email protected]>
    to: [email protected]
    date: Jul 1, 2023, 10:53 AM
    subject: Sorry for the delay

     

    Good morning. As of July 1, I am interim Head of School for Emereau Bladen Charter. Our school is closed for the week of the 4th of July. When I return to the office on July 10th, I will check into this and get back to you as soon as possible. Thank you.–

     

    Polly G Hancock
    Dean of Academic Initiatives
    Emereau: Bladen Charter
    [email protected]


    Status: Follow up
  • June 30, 2023 4:54 pm

    9 months ago

    from: Sunshine Request <[email protected]>
    to: Elizabeth Cole <[email protected]>
    cc: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], “Whitley J. H. Ward” <[email protected]>
    date: Jun 30, 2023, 4:54 PM
    subject: Re: Records Request: (March 2023) Request for Emereau Bladen Charter School: All current employee salaries as of the present day.

     

    Hi Elizabeth,

     

    I have not heard back regarding my previous email to you on Tuesday June 20, 2023 @ 12:28PM:

     

    from: Sunshine Request <[email protected]>
    to: Elizabeth Cole <[email protected]>
    cc: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], “Whitley J. H. Ward” <[email protected]>
    date: Jun 20, 2023, 12:28 PM
    subject: Re: Records Request: (March 2023) Request for Emereau Bladen Charter School: All current employee salaries as of the present day.

     

    Please reply promptly.

     

    Thank you!

     

    ~ The Sunshine Request Team


    Status: Follow up
  • June 20, 2023 12:28 pm

    9 months ago

    from: Sunshine Request <[email protected]>
    to: Elizabeth Cole <[email protected]>
    cc: [email protected], [email protected],
    [email protected], “Whitley J. H. Ward” <[email protected]>
    date: Jun 20, 2023, 12:28 PM
    subject: Re: Records Request: (March 2023) Request for Emereau Bladen Charter School: All current employee salaries as of the present day.

     

    Hi Elizabeth,

     

    My apologies for the delay.

     

    I’ve spoken to the director of Sunshine Request, about your recent email describing your methodology for prescribing fees for requests.

     

    While we have concerns about several of the provisions you’ve mentioned (which we feel are not in compliance with NC Public Records Law), at this point it is not clear which of the costs you mentioned would actually apply to our very straightforward request for current employee salary data.

     

    Over the years we’ve submitted dozens, if not more than 100, requests for salary data to government entities across North Carolina. The type of salary data I’ve requested from you (Name, Title, Salary, Hire Date) is simple to provide, and it is very commonly produced as a public record. Many schools around the state fulfill requests like this via email within 1 week, and in many cases 1 day.

     

    We have requested the electronic copy of an electronic record (the responsive records are already available to you in that format), and we expect for this electronic record to be delivered via email. NC Public Records Law clearly provides the authority for us to request public records in this manner. We understand you said at some point prior to March 2023 your organization had ransomware issues, which possibly have been fixed. While we understand your security issues, this does not exempt your requirement under the law to produce public records, nor does it allow you to charge fees for producing those records in YOUR preferred format.

     

    Additionally. Under NC Public Records Law you may not charge fees for either the staff time or legal fees required to redact or separate confidential from non-confidential information in public records. That cost burden is yours to bear.

     

    We do not expect there to be any fees required for the production of this very simple record. However, to keep discussion moving forward — please provide us with an updated and clear description of the exact fees and totals you feel are required for this specific salary request, as well as where they are justified under the Law.

     

    Please do not process the request without giving us a quote. We’ll review your response as a Team, and will consider our next steps from there.

     

    Thank you.

     

    ~ Lauren (and the Sunshine Request Team


    Status: Clarification Requested
  • June 8, 2023 6:40 pm

    10 months ago

    from: Elizabeth Cole <[email protected]>
    to: Sunshine Request <[email protected]>
    cc: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], “Whitley J. H. Ward” <[email protected]>
    date: Jun 8, 2023, 6:40 PM
    subject: Re: Records Request: (March 2023) Request for Emereau Bladen Charter School: All current employee salaries as of the present day.

     

    Reasonable efforts will be made to produce records at the lowest possible cost, and the following fee schedule
    will apply:
    Copying costs will be charged at a commercially reasonable rate of $0.10 per page, and, the fee for non-standard size documents, such as architectural plans or property plats, will be individually determined at the time of copying based on actual copying cost.
    Search, retrieval, and redaction costs of records will be charged at the prorated hourly salary of the lowest paid
    employee who, in the reasonable discretion of the custodian of the records, has the necessary skill and training to perform the search, retrieval, and, if appropriate, redaction. Records requests involving specialized, technical, or confidential information, or otherwise requiring redaction, will in many cases require an employee with a higher salary to perform the search, retrieval, and/or redaction. The fee rate, accordingly, will vary based on the nature of the records requested, depending on the necessary skill and training level necessary. However, the current minimum applicable fee rate is $20 per hour. Employee time will be billed based on 1/4 hour increments.
    The fee schedule may vary from time to time as hourly wages, salaries, and commercially reasonable copying
    costs change.
    Fees will not be charged for examination and review of documents to determine if the documents are subject to
    disclosure. Additionally, copying costs will not be charged for copies of records that are transmitted in electronic
    format, although if requested records are not already in electronic format, fees will be charged for staff time
    required to transfer the documents to electronic format. (We will not transfer any records electronically due to a recent ransomware attack we were victim to.)

     

    Thank you,
    Elizabeth Cole, Executive Director

    Emereau: Bladen

    995 Airport Road

    Elizabethtown, NC 28337

    (910) 247-6595

    [email protected]


    Status: Government Processing Request
  • May 31, 2023 12:31 pm

    10 months ago

    from: Sunshine Request <[email protected]>
    to: Elizabeth Cole <[email protected]>
    cc: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], “Whitley J. H. Ward” <[email protected]>
    date: May 31, 2023, 12:31 PM
    subject: Re: Records Request: (March 2023) Request for Emereau Bladen Charter School: All current employee salaries as of the present day.

     

    Hi Elizabeth,

     

    I hope you’ve been well.

     

    Now that a month has passed, I wanted to check in regarding my last email to you in the thread above on April 28, 3:52PM.

     

    Please let me know if there is any update to report.

     

    For simplicity, I’ve copied that message below:
    ————————————————

     

    ” Hi Elizabeth,

     

    Thank you. I appreciate your response.

     

    Please do reach out once there is an itemized cost and reasons explaining any specific fees related to producing current employee salary data. I will consider how to proceed from there.

     

    If Prestige need’s “additional information” about the exact records request that was made, you are welcome to forward them my original records request email from Mar 28, 2023, 4:20 PM.
    —–

     

    If there are any questions about the request, however, I’d ask that you continue to communicate with me about that via the email thread above. This will help our Team and yours to efficiently track any of our communications.

     

    I will follow up with you again in a few weeks, if I haven’t heard anything else.

     

    Thanks for your help! “


    Status: Follow up
  • April 28, 2023 3:52 pm

    11 months ago

    from: Sunshine Request <[email protected]>
    to: Elizabeth Cole <[email protected]>
    cc: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], “Whitley J. H. Ward” <[email protected]>
    date: Apr 28, 2023, 3:52 PM
    subject: Re: Records Request: (March 2023) Request for Emereau Bladen Charter School: All current employee salaries as of the present day.

     

    Hi Elizabeth,

     

    Thank you. I appreciate your response.

     

    Please do reach out once there is an itemized cost and reasons explaining any specific fees related to producing current employee salary data. I will consider how to proceed from there.

     

    If Prestige need’s “additional information” about the exact records request that was made, you are welcome to forward them my original records request email from Mar 28, 2023, 4:20 PM.
    ——

     

    If there are any questions about the request, however, I’d ask that you continue to communicate with me about that via the email thread above. This will help our Team and yours to efficiently track any of our communications.

     

    I will follow up with you again in a few weeks, if I haven’t heard anything else.

     

    Thanks for your help!


    Status: Government Processing Request
  • April 28, 2023 3:37 pm

    11 months ago

    from: Elizabeth Cole <[email protected]>
    to: Sunshine Request <[email protected]>
    cc: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], “Whitley J. H. Ward” <[email protected]>
    date: Apr 28, 2023, 3:37 PM
    subject: Re: Records Request: (March 2023) Request for Emereau Bladen Charter School: All current employee salaries as of the present day.

     

    Good Afternoon,
    I am copying the School Board Attorney in this email as well. As mentioned in my previous email, we have been hit by ransomware this week. All of our documents have been encrypted. We are currently investigating the issue alongside NCDPI and their Cyber Security Team. All files have been encrypted, so at this time I do not even have access to our electronic files. I will have to enlist our 3rd party vendor, Prestige School Solutions, to compile this information. Due to the ransomware attack, I will not forward any information electronically. Once compiled, I will have to send everything to you through US Mail. I will consult with Prestige School Solutions to get a fee that will be charged for them to complete this request in the file format you have requested.

     

    Additionally for you to know, leadership has changed here since the school first opened. Due to losing all files to encryption, we would have to revisit personnel files for original hire dates. Since the school opened, the 3rd party vendor for financials has changed as well. The school was originally served by Acadia North Star. I can not speak on behalf of Prestige as to what files have been transferred. There may be further information needed by Prestige to complete your request. I will be in contact with Prestige.

     

    Once I have the fees associated with compiling this information, I will send them to you.

     

    Sincerely,
    Elizabeth Cole, Executive Director

    Emereau: Bladen

    995 Airport Road

    Elizabethtown, NC 28337

    (910) 247-6595

    [email protected]


    Status: Response Received from Government
  • April 28, 2023 2:58 pm

    11 months ago

    from: Sunshine Request <[email protected]>
    to: Elizabeth Cole <[email protected]>
    cc: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]
    date: Apr 28, 2023, 2:58 PM
    subject: Re: Records Request: (March 2023) Request for Emereau Bladen Charter School: All current employee salaries as of the present day.

     

    Hi Elizabeth,

     

    Thank you for replying.

     

    What NCGS 132-6.2(b) says is:

     

    b) Persons requesting copies of public records may request that the copies be certified or uncertified. The fees for certifying copies of public records shall be as provided by law. Except as otherwise provided by law, no public agency shall charge a fee for an uncertified copy of a public record that exceeds the actual cost to the public agency of making the copy. For purposes of this subsection, “actual cost” is limited to direct, chargeable costs related to the reproduction of a public record as determined by generally accepted accounting principles and does not include costs that would have been incurred by the public agency if a request to reproduce a public record had not been made. Notwithstanding the provisions of this subsection, if the request is such as to require extensive use of information technology resources or extensive clerical or supervisory assistance by personnel of the agency involved, or if producing the record in the medium requested results in a greater use of information technology resources than that established by the agency for reproduction of the volume of information requested, then the agency may charge, in addition to the actual cost of duplication, a special service charge, which shall be reasonable and shall be based on the actual cost incurred for such extensive use of information technology resources or the labor costs of the personnel providing the services, or for a greater use of information technology resources that is actually incurred by the agency or attributable to the agency. If anyone requesting public information from any public agency is charged a fee that the requester believes to be unfair or unreasonable, the requester may ask the State Chief Information Officer or his designee to mediate the dispute.

     

    The type of salary info I’ve requested (Employee, Title, Salary, Hire Date) is simple to provide. It is widely regarded and consistently produced as a public record as part of the public personnel file of government, public school, and charter school employees. Many charter schools around the state have fulfilled a request like mine via email in 1 week, or in many cases 1 day.

     

    I am simply requesting an electronic copy of an electronic record that exists. Any responsive info can be provided to me via an electronic medium / format (in which the copy of this record should already exist). I am not asking for this information to be compiled or produced in a special way. If you’d just “prefer” to send a flash drive and charge a fee, rather than email easily accessible records — then that is an unnecessary burden to access, and is not in compliance with the spirit of NC Records Law, which does also apply to charter schools.

     

    As indicated in my original message — by submitting the request, I am not agreeing to pay any potential fees or associated costs related to my request. Please let me know the specific itemized cost and explanations for those charges upfront — and do not proceed until I can respond. Please explain any calculations you’ve used to determine a specific cost for this request — or, how much staff time you’ve estimated is required to produce this information (at what $ rate are you using to make that calculation?). Please also provide a copy of Emereau: Bladen’s policy for charging fees for public records requests, and the name of the “Vendor” you say you have to use to produce salary information.

     

    I will consider my response from there.

     

    Thank you for your help.

     

    ~ The Sunshine Request Team


    Status: Clarification Provided
  • April 28, 2023 2:26 pm

    11 months ago

    from: Elizabeth Cole <[email protected]>
    to: Sunshine Request <[email protected]>
    cc: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]
    date: Apr 28, 2023, 2:26 PM
    subject: Re: Records Request: (March 2023) Request for Emereau Bladen Charter School: All current employee salaries as of the present day.

     

    Good Afternoon,
    Contradictory to what you stated, we are NOT intentionally ignoring this request. The school is authorized under NCGS 132-6.2(b) to charge a “special service charge” for use of information technology resources, including labor costs of the personnel providing these services. To that point, we will get these records for you. You will be responsible for the costs of the flash drives that we will be used to send you the information. Addiotionally, you will be charged with postage and any shipping charges associated. We use a 3rd party vendor to complete all finances and provide information for audits and tax purposes. This vendor will have to produce this information for you, as they house these documents. We will forward you the fee that they charge to compile the documents you need, as they will have to consolidate information from different files to give you what has been requested.

     

    This week our focus has been dealing with a ransomware attack on our server. We will not send any information via email. Please let me know who to send a bill to prior to this information being collected.

     

    Sincerely,
    Elizabeth Cole, Executive Director

    Emereau: Bladen

    995 Airport Road

    Elizabethtown, NC 28337

    (910) 247-6595

    [email protected]


    Status: Response Received from Government
  • April 28, 2023 12:22 pm

    11 months ago

    from: Sunshine Request <[email protected]>
    to: [email protected]
    cc: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]
    date: Apr 28, 2023, 12:22 PM
    subject: Re: Records Request: (March 2023) Request for Emereau Bladen Charter School: All current employee salaries as of the present day.

     

    Hi Elizabeth (or Emereau: Bladen Charter School Records Officer),

     

    This is my 3rd time following up on my public records request. First sent to your offices on March 28, 2023:
    (March 2023) Request for Emereau Bladen Charter School: All current employee salaries as of the present day.

     

    To-date I have not received any response since sending in the request.

     

    I am concerned that you may be intentionally delaying fulfillment of requests by allowing it to “sit” until staff has availability or feels like addressing. Under NC Public Records Law, you are required to “promptly” process all valid public records requests. With this in mind, I want to highlight the court case referenced in item #6 of the following article, posted on the NC Press Association website. In this instance: “The trial court held that an unjustified one-month delay in production of records was tantamount to a denial”. http://www.ncpress.com/stories/a-bakers-dozen-for-2022nc-public-records-law,2390

     

    Please confirm receipt to let me know that the request will begin processing. And please provide an anticipated date for its completion. I will make one more attempt to follow up again in a week, if I haven’t heard anything else before then. At that point I will mark this request as having been “Denied” by your organization, and I will consider my next steps from there.

     

    Thank you for your help!

     

    ~ The Sunshine Request Team


    Status: Follow up
  • April 18, 2023 4:56 pm

    1 year ago

    from: Sunshine Request <[email protected]>
    to: [email protected]
    cc: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]
    date: Apr 18, 2023, 4:56 PM
    subject: Re: Records Request: (March 2023) Request for Emereau Bladen Charter School: All current employee salaries as of the present day.

     

    Good Afternoon Elizabeth (and all others CCed),

     

    This is my second attempt to follow up regarding my public records request. First sent to your offices on March 28, 2023.
    REF: (March 2023) Request for Emereau Bladen Charter School: All current employee salaries as of the present day.

     

    I have not received any response since sending in the request on 03/28, or to my follow up email on April 07.

     

    Can you please confirm receipt of the request and let me know it will begin processing? And, please provide an anticipated date for its completion.

     

    I will follow up again in a week, if I haven’t heard anything else before then.

     

    Thank you for your help!

     

    ~ The Sunshine Request Team


    Status: Follow up
  • April 7, 2023 2:25 pm

    1 year ago

    from: Sunshine Request <[email protected]>
    to: [email protected]
    cc: [email protected], [email protected]
    date: Apr 7, 2023, 2:25 PM
    subject: Re: Records Request: (March 2023) Request for Emereau Bladen Charter School: All current employee salaries as of the present day.

     

    Hi Elizabeth (or Emereau: Bladen Charter School Records Officer),

     

    Happy Friday!

     

    Just following up on my public records request. First sent to your offices on March 28, 2023:
    (March 2023) Request for Emereau Bladen Charter School: All current employee salaries as of the present day.

     

    As of this writing I have not received any response.

     

    Can you please confirm receipt to let me know that the request will begin processing? And if possible, please provide an anticipated date for its completion.

     

    I’ll follow up again in a week, if I haven’t heard anything else before then.

     

    Thank you for your help!

     

    ~ The Sunshine Request Team


    Status: Follow up
  • March 28, 2023 4:20 pm

    1 year ago

    from: Sunshine Request <[email protected]>
    to: [email protected]
    cc: [email protected], [email protected]
    date: Mar 28, 2023, 4:20 PM
    subject: Records Request: (March 2023) Request for Emereau Bladen Charter School: All current employee salaries as of the present day.

     

    Hello Elizabeth (or Emereau: Bladen Charter School Records Officer),

     

    I’d like to make a public records request for information that may be available in your office.

     

    If you’re not the appropriate party to contact about the request, please provide the correct name and email address of whom I should send it to.

     

    Please confirm receipt to let me know the request will begin processing, and if possible, please provide a rough estimate of when the request may be completed. I will plan on following up again in April if I have not heard back before then.

     

    Here are the details of the request:

     

    Subject: (March 2023) Request for Emereau Bladen Charter School: All current employee salaries as of the present day.

     

    Message: “Hello Elizabeth (or Emereau: Bladen Charter School Records Officer),

     

    I’d like to make a public records request for the following information under NC Public Records Law.
    Ref: https://www.ncleg.net/enactedlegislation/statutes/html/bychapter/chapter_132.html

     

    ** Please note that by submitting this request, I am NOT agreeing to pay any potential fees or associated costs related to my request. If it is not possible to process the request without incurring fees, then please let me know the itemized potential cost and explanations for those charges upfront, and DO NOT proceed until I can respond.

     

    ** I am simply requesting an electronic copy of an electronic record, if one exists. I am NOT asking to come in person to inspect, nor to obtain a printed copy of, this electronic record. I’m requesting explicitly that any responsive info be provided to me via an electronic medium / format (in which the copy of this record should already exist). I know that it should be possible to fulfill a records request like this one, as many other charter schools in NC have already done so.

     

    I do not have any additional or further clarifying info to provide to narrow this request, other than what you see in the message below. If it is unclear, or you are unable to fulfill any or all parts of this request, please specifically cite where a reason for denial is justified under NC Public Records Law.**

     

    Please provide a list of ALL current Emereau Bladen Charter School Employees / Staff and their Salaries, as of the present day (date the query is performed). Please include the following:

     

    1. Employee first / last name
    2. Current position / title / department
    3. Date of hire
    4. Current salary (including hourly wage, hourly rate, or salary — whichever is applicable.)

     

    If any / all of this info is already publicly available online, then please provide a link to where it can be accessed.
    ——————

     

    By Law I am not required to provide a name or address to associate with a public records request, but in order to move things along I’d like to clarify that this request is being made by:

     

    Sunshine Request
    PO Box 17391
    Asheville, NC 28816

     

    The request has been sent solely from the email address [email protected] . If anyone other than that email address contacts you to pursue a similar request, it did not come from me or my Team. Please do not commingle or treat that as an alteration or cancellation of my request – I intend to continue to pursue my request.

     

    Thank you for your assistance!”

     

    Thank you!

     

    ** Sunshine Request (www.sunshinerequest.com) makes no claim as to the veracity of any statements or information contained in any of the requests, or public records, we receive.


    Status: Sent to Government
  • March 27, 2023 2:34 pm

    1 year ago

    Submitted to Sunshine Request
    Status: Pending