Date:
08/18/2022
Subject:
Heather Dingbaum/Central DeWitt Communiy School District - Dismissal Order
Opinion:
The Iowa Public Information Board
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In re the Matter of: Heather Dingbaum, Complainant And Concerning: Central DeWitt Community School District, Respondent |
Case Number: 22FC:0039
Dismissal Order
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COMES NOW, Margaret E. Johnson, Executive Director for the Iowa Public Information Board (IPIB), and enters this Dismissal Order.
Heather Dingbaum filed formal complaint 22FC:0039 on May 11, 2022, alleging that the Central DeWitt Community School District (District) violated Iowa Code chapter 22.
Ms. Dingbaum alleged that she received a letter from the District on March 30, 2022, concerning a complaint she filed with the Iowa Department of Education. The letter referenced attachments, but the attachments were not provided. When she requested the attachments, the District responded on April 4, 2022, that thential records pursuant to Iowa Code sections 22.7(1), 22.7(4), and 22.7(11). The attachments contained student information involving students other than Ms. Dingbaum’s child, personal personnel information concerning District staff, and attorney work pr
Iowa Code section 22.7 provides that certain records “shall be kept confidential, unless otherwise ordered by a court, by the lawful custodian of the records, or by another person duly authorized to release such information:”
Subsection 22.7(1) defines certain student records as confidential:
1. Personal information in records regarding a student, prospective student, or former student maintained, created, collected or assembled by or for a school corporation or educational institution maintaining such records. This subsection shall not be construed to prohibit a postsecondary education institution from disclosing to a parent or guardian information regarding a violation of a federal, state, or local law, or institutional rule or policy governing the use or possession of alcohol or a controlled substance if the child is under the age of twenty-one years and the institution determines that the student committed a disciplinary violation with respect to the use or possession of alcohol or a controlled substance regardless of whether that information is contained in the student’s education records. This subsection shall not be construed to prohibit a school corporation or educational institution from transferring student records electronically to the department of education, an accredited nonpublic school, an attendance center, a school district, or an accredited postsecondary institution in accordance with section 256.9, subsection 48.
Subsection 22.7(4) defines certain attorney work product as confidential:
4. Records which represent and constitute the work product of an attorney, which are related to litigation or claim made by or against a public body.
Subsection 22.7(11) addresses the confidea. Personal information in confidential personnel records of government bodies relating to identified or identifiable individuals who are officials, officers, or employees of the government bodies. However, the following information relating to such individuals contained in personnel records shall be public records:
(1) The name and compensation of the individual including any written agreement establishing compensation or any other terms of employment excluding any information otherwise excludable from public information pursuant to this section or any other applicable provision of law. For purposes of this paragraph, “compensation” means payment of, or agreement to pay, any money, thing of value, or financial benefit conferred in return for labor or services rendered by an official, officer, or employee plus the value of benefits conferred including but not limited to casualty, disability, life, or health insurance, other health or wellness benefits, vacation, holiday, and sick leave, severance payments, retirement benefits, and deferred compensation.
(2) The dates the individual was employed by the government body.
(3) The positions the individual holds or has held with the government body.
(4 The educational institutions attended by the individual, including any diplomas and degrees earned, and the names of the individual’s previous employers, positions previously held, and dates of previous employment.
(5) The fact that the individual resigned in lieu of termination, was discharged, or was demoted as the result of a disciplinary action, and the documented reasons and rationale for the resignation in lieu of termination, the discharge, or the demotion. For purposes of this subparagraph, "demoted" and "demotion" mean a change of an employee from a position in a given classification to a position in a classification having a lower pay grade.
b. Personal information in confidential personnel records of government bodies relating to student employees shall only be released pursuant to 20 U.S.C. § 1232g
Legal counsel for the District allowed a review of the withheld confidential records pursuant to the protections of Iowa Code section 23.6(6). Based upon this review, a three-page document was recommended for release to Ms. Dingbaum. The other documents were determined by the IPIB staff to meet the definitions of confidential records as noted by the District.
Iowa Code section 23.8 requires that a complaint be within the IPIB’s jurisdiction, appear legally sufficient, and could have merit before the IPIB accepts a complaint. This complaint does not meet the necessary requirements for acceptance.
IT IS SO ORDERED: Formal complaint 22FC:0039 is dismissed as legally insufficient pursuant to Iowa Code section 23.8(2) and Iowa Administrative Rule 497-2.1(2)(b).
Pursuant to Iowa Administrative Rule 497-2.1(3), the IPIB may “delegate acceptance or dismissal of a complaint to the executive director, subject to review by the board.” The IPIB will review this Order on August 18, 2022. Pursuant to IPIB rule 497-2.1(4), the parties will be notified in writing of its decision.
By the IPIB Executive Director
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Margaret E. Johnson
1. Initially, the Department of Education offered to release the attachments to Ms. Dingbaum in an attempt to resolve the matter. This offer was not based upon a determination that the attachments should be considered public records. The records were not released by the Department of Education based upon the District’s determination that the records were confidential.
CERTIFICATE OF MAILING
This document was sent by electronic mail on the ___ day of August, 2022, to:
Heather Dingbaum
Brett Nitzschke, legal counsel for the Central DeWitt Community Schools