New York City Education Department to Improve Response to Public Record Requests
After sustaining criticism for its sluggish responses to public records requests, New York City’s education department says it will provide more realistic timelines for responding to requests.
In new guidelines released Wednesday, the education department said it will stop regularly pushing back its own deadlines and will provide more accurate estimates for when, exactly, it will respond to records requests.
The new policy is meant to provide “a clear and realistic estimate” within 20 days of acknowledging a request of how long it will take to respond, officials said, including an explanation for whatever timeline the department provides. That is meant to end the widely-criticized practice of sending form letters every 30 days — sometimes for dozens of months — postponing an official response. . .