HCPSS MPIA Request #2020-195

Requested Information
Under the Maryland Public Information Act, requesting the following: Data on the number of teachers who, during the 2018/2019 school year, did not have state teaching certificates. This request would include those teachers who had certificates that expired.
Date Received
Status
Complete
Response Notes

Responsive to this request, please note under COMAR 13A.12.01.03 Personnel “all teachers employed in an early childhood, elementary, PreK—12 or secondary school program in the public school systems of Maryland shall hold an appropriate certificate under COMAR 13A.12.02.,” therefore no such position is filled unless the candidate meets required certification. Related to certificates which have expiration dates during a given school year, HCPSS does not have an existing report that identifies historic lapses in certificate renewal. Under the MPIA process, and as advised in the Fourteenth Edition of the Maryland Public Information Act Manual created by Maryland’s Office of the Attorney General, an agency is only obligated to produce existing records and is not required to generate new data or summarize data, nor is an agency required to program a new record if the type of data extraction requested is outside its normal course of business per the MPIA GP § 4-205(c)(4)(iii). Additional clarification and time would be needed to continue request related to review of individual files.

*Some request language is summarized to include the requester's specific document requests and legally protected information (such as personally identifiable information of a student) or personal, defamatory and malicious content removed at the discretion of the school system.

**Responses containing legally protected information available only to the person of interest are omitted from the above report.

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