CANTON

Former Governor Edward G. Rendell signed the PA Right To Know law on February 14, 2008 fundamentally changing the way people access public records of their government, and the way government processes those requests.  The new law created the Office of Open Records to help implement and enforce Act 3 of 2008.  A significant role of the Office of Open Records is to provide guidance for the new law, which fully took effect on January 1, 2009.  You can visit the Office of Open Records by clicking on the following link: http://openrecords.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt?

The Right to Know law can be downloaded by clicking this link: Right to Know Law

       The law requires that each Agency appoint a Right-to-Know Officer (RTK Officer).   The RTK Officer has four tasks required by law:

• Receive requests submitted to the agency
• Direct requests to other appropriate persons within the agency or to appropriate persons in another agency
• Track the agency's progress in responding to requests
• Issue interim and final responses under this act

The Canton Area School District has appointed the Board Secretary, Mr. Mark Jannone, as the Right To Know Officer.  He can be e-mailed by clicking this link: CASD Right To Know Email

To file a Right to Know request for information, you must fill out the request for information form, which you can download by clicking the following link: Right To Know Request Form

Fee Structure

 The Canton Area School District, in accordance with the Right to Know Law, will assess the following fee schedule when fulfilling Right to Know Requests:

Please Also Be Advised:

• Statutory Fees: If a separate statute authorizes an agency to charge a set amount for a certain type of record, the agency may charge no more than that statutory amount. For example, a Recorder of Deeds may charge a copy fee of 50 cents per uncertified page and $1.50 per certified page under 42 P.S. § 21051. Police departments have the authority to charge up to $15 per report for providing a copy of a vehicle accident report. 75 Pa.C.S. §3751 (b)(2). Philadelphia police may charge up to $25 per copy. Id . at (b)(3). State police are authorized to charge $5 for each copy of the Pennsylvania State Police full report of investigation. 75 Pa.C.S. §1956(b).

• Inspection of Redacted Records:  If a requester wishes to inspect rather than receive a copy of a record and the record contains both public and non-public information, the agency shall redact the non-public information. An agency may not charge the requester for the redaction. However, the Agency   may charge for the copies it must make of the redacted material in order for the requester to view the public record. The fee structure outlined above will apply.  If, after inspecting the records, the requester chooses to obtain the copies, no additional fee may be charged.

• Enhanced Electronic Access :  If an agency offers enhanced electronic access to records in addition to making the records accessible for inspection and duplication by a requester, the agency may establish user fees specifically for the provision of the enhanced electronic access, but only to the extent that the enhanced electronic access is in addition to making the records accessible for inspection and duplication by a requester as required by this Act. The user fees for enhanced electronic access may be a flat rate, a subscription fee for a period of time, a per-transaction fee, a fee based on the cumulative time of system access or any other reasonable method and any combination thereof. The user fees for enhanced electronic access must be reasonable, must be pre-approved by the Office of Open Records and shall not be established with the intent or effect of excluding persons from access to records or duplicates thereof or of creating profit for the agency.   Please submit any request to:

    Office of Open Records

    400 North Street

    Harrisburg , PA. 17120.

•  Fee Limitations:  Except as otherwise provided by statute, the law states that no other fees may be imposed unless the agency necessarily incurs costs for complying with the request, and such fees must be reasonable. No fee may be imposed for an agencys review of a record to determine whether the record is a public record, legislative record or financial record subject to access in accordance with this Act. No fee may be charged for searching for or retrieval of documents. An agency may not charge staff time or salary for complying with a RTK request.

• Prepayment:  Prior to granting a request for access in accordance with this Act, an agency may require a requester to prepay an estimate of the fees authorized under this section if the fees required to fulfill the request are expected to exceed $100.

o       Once the request is fulfilled and prepared for release, the Office of Open Records recommends that the agency obtain the cost of the records prior to releasing the records. This recommendation is designed to avoid situations in which the agency provides the records and the requester fails to submit payment.