Requestor
Samantha Barrett
Organization/Agency
The Daily Dot
Requested Information
I am requesting the documents listed below from Howard County Public Schools under the Maryland Public Information Act, Title 4 of the General Provisions of the Maryland Code. The code says the request should be answered within 30 days:
Any contract between Howard County Public School System and Zūm Services, Inc.
Any materials involved in the bidding for contract (communications, pitches desk, invoices, proposal)
Any digital communications between Howard County Public School System and Zūm Services, Inc. between August 1, 2023, and the present.
Any communications to HCPS from the domain “@ridezum.com”.
I am also seeking any digital communications sent to the Howard County Public School System between August 15, 2023, and the present including the words or phrases: bus, busses, school bus, school busses, driver, drivers, bus driver, bus drivers, route, routes, bus route, bus routes, zum, zum services, zum app.
Any contract between Howard County Public School System and Zūm Services, Inc.
Any materials involved in the bidding for contract (communications, pitches desk, invoices, proposal)
Any digital communications between Howard County Public School System and Zūm Services, Inc. between August 1, 2023, and the present.
Any communications to HCPS from the domain “@ridezum.com”.
I am also seeking any digital communications sent to the Howard County Public School System between August 15, 2023, and the present including the words or phrases: bus, busses, school bus, school busses, driver, drivers, bus driver, bus drivers, route, routes, bus route, bus routes, zum, zum services, zum app.
Date Received
Status
Complete
Responsive Documents
Responsive to this request, and per discussions to date to clarify the scope of records sought, attached are batches of records resulting from a search of the @hcpss email system within the following parameters:
• Date Range
o Between August 26, 2023 and September 4, 2023
• Mailbox Locations
o All HCPSS staff mailboxes
• Participants
o @ridezum.com (after conducting searches for other current MPIA requests we have also added @zumsf.com as a participant for this search)
• Other
o Excluding calendar/meeting/appointment results.
o Excluding communications originating from parents, schools, or transportation regarding individual student/parent issues and bus placements.
o Excluding communications from transportation regarding individual driver hiring/paperwork.
Exemptions found within the first batch of records include:
● Under MPIA GP § 4-330, we have redacted sociological information where it contained personal phone numbers, personal email addresses, HCPSS issued student identification numbers, information about an individual’s family, and/or has the potential to pose a risk to individual safety or privacy.
● Under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA), which restricts access to student records, and MPIA GP § 4-313, which prevents disclosure of school district records pertaining to individual students, we have redacted identifying information regarding individual students matters. This includes bus/route numbers where connected to individual students.
● Under MPIA GP § 4-338, which requires a custodian to deny inspection of information about the security of an information system, we have redacted unique identifiers such as login, password, and IP address information.
Exemptions found within the second batch of records include:
● Under MPIA GP § 4-330, we have redacted sociological information where it contained personal phone numbers, personal email addresses, HCPSS issued student identification numbers, information about an individual’s family, employee identification photographs, and/or has the potential to pose a risk to individual safety or privacy.
● Under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA), which restricts access to student records, and MPIA GP § 4-313, which prevents disclosure of school district records pertaining to individual students, we have redacted identifying information regarding individual students matters. This includes bus/route numbers where connected to individual students.
● Under MPIA GP § 4-338, which requires a custodian to deny inspection of information about the security of an information system, we have redacted unique identifiers such as login, password, and IP address information.
Exemptions found within the third batch of records include:
● Under MPIA GP § 4-330, we have redacted sociological information where it contained personal phone numbers, personal addresses, and/or has the potential to pose a risk to individual safety or privacy.
● Under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA), which restricts access to student records, and MPIA GP § 4-313, which prevents disclosure of school district records pertaining to individual students, we have redacted identifying information regarding individual student matters. This includes bus/route numbers where connected to individual students.
● Two additional redactions found on pages 138 and 140 are for non-responsive content unrelated to the transaction of HCPSS business.
Please note, further review would be needed to determine releasability of all attachments, links and/or external records noted within the responsive email content itself.
• Date Range
o Between August 26, 2023 and September 4, 2023
• Mailbox Locations
o All HCPSS staff mailboxes
• Participants
o @ridezum.com (after conducting searches for other current MPIA requests we have also added @zumsf.com as a participant for this search)
• Other
o Excluding calendar/meeting/appointment results.
o Excluding communications originating from parents, schools, or transportation regarding individual student/parent issues and bus placements.
o Excluding communications from transportation regarding individual driver hiring/paperwork.
Exemptions found within the first batch of records include:
● Under MPIA GP § 4-330, we have redacted sociological information where it contained personal phone numbers, personal email addresses, HCPSS issued student identification numbers, information about an individual’s family, and/or has the potential to pose a risk to individual safety or privacy.
● Under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA), which restricts access to student records, and MPIA GP § 4-313, which prevents disclosure of school district records pertaining to individual students, we have redacted identifying information regarding individual students matters. This includes bus/route numbers where connected to individual students.
● Under MPIA GP § 4-338, which requires a custodian to deny inspection of information about the security of an information system, we have redacted unique identifiers such as login, password, and IP address information.
Exemptions found within the second batch of records include:
● Under MPIA GP § 4-330, we have redacted sociological information where it contained personal phone numbers, personal email addresses, HCPSS issued student identification numbers, information about an individual’s family, employee identification photographs, and/or has the potential to pose a risk to individual safety or privacy.
● Under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA), which restricts access to student records, and MPIA GP § 4-313, which prevents disclosure of school district records pertaining to individual students, we have redacted identifying information regarding individual students matters. This includes bus/route numbers where connected to individual students.
● Under MPIA GP § 4-338, which requires a custodian to deny inspection of information about the security of an information system, we have redacted unique identifiers such as login, password, and IP address information.
Exemptions found within the third batch of records include:
● Under MPIA GP § 4-330, we have redacted sociological information where it contained personal phone numbers, personal addresses, and/or has the potential to pose a risk to individual safety or privacy.
● Under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA), which restricts access to student records, and MPIA GP § 4-313, which prevents disclosure of school district records pertaining to individual students, we have redacted identifying information regarding individual student matters. This includes bus/route numbers where connected to individual students.
● Two additional redactions found on pages 138 and 140 are for non-responsive content unrelated to the transaction of HCPSS business.
Please note, further review would be needed to determine releasability of all attachments, links and/or external records noted within the responsive email content itself.