I would like to know who or how many are applying for it in each cycle (maybe three cycles' email already from HCPSS), who are accepted into this panel and when. Thanks.
Under MPIA GP § 4-311 individual personnel records, including applications, are exempt from disclosure. This includes, as advised in the Fourteenth Edition of the Maryland Public Information Act Manual created by Maryland’s Office of the Attorney General, “information submitted by individuals seeking to serve on agency advisory committees” and “names of those seeking appointments to an office may not be disclosed if the information is derived from their applications.” As such, we are denying your request to know who applied for the HCPSS Ethics Panel as that information is collected as part of an individual’s application.
For reference, there have been two Ethics Panel application cycles during the current school year. The first had a deadline of October 30, 2017, with a total of 18 applicants. Leading up to a recommendation to the Board planned for the April 10, 2018, Board of Education meeting, all applicants were mailed letters in late March informing them of the Screening Committee’s decision. A second cycle has a deadline of April 30, 2018, with a total of 10 applications received through the end of March.