Required Financial Transparency

The French American School of Denver is a public charter school authorized by Denver Public Schools.   We follow Denver Public Schools policy for public records requests governed by the Colorado Open Records Act (CORA) and the published information below.  FASD requests may be sent to the Custodian of Records who is the Executive Director.  Requests must be submitted directly to kathy@fasdenver.org or by mail to 2401 E. 37th Avenue, Denver CO 80205.

The first hour of staff or contractor time required to locate, review, redact, and prepare records is provided at no charge. After the first hour, the research and retrieval fee is $41.37 per hour (effective July 1, 2024) including routine time spent by non-technical contract assistance, under C.R.S. Sec.24-72-205(6), which adjusts every five years for inflation.  FASD will apply the then-existing statutory maximum rate without the need to update this posting.  Requesters have the right to inspect public records in person, not only to obtain copies; inspection will be arranged by appointment during regular working hours and supervised by an FASD representative to preserve the integrity of the records.  

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​If a records request requires more than mere retrieval of records, including technical expertise to synthesize or reconfigure data, or legal expertise from attorneys in order to identify how to comply with confidentiality requirements, FASD will charge the requestor for such actual costs in accordance with the guidelines below. Any costs charged to a requestor shall not exceed the actual cost of producing the records, in accordance with C.R.S. § 24-72- 205(5)(a).

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The fee provisions of this policy exist to recover or defray actual costs and not to impede access.  FASD will charge based on the rates below: 

• Records requests that exceed 25 pages will be charged at the rate of $0.25 per page for all documents photocopied.  FASD will charge the requestor for all copying expenses in excess of 25 pages and actual costs associated with research and retrieval in excess of the first free hour, in accordance with C.R.S. § 24-72-205(5)(a) and (6)(a). Copies are charged separately from and in addition to the search and retrieval fee.  

• Requests that require more than one hour of staff time for research and retrieval of records will be charged at the rate of $41.37 per hour after the first hour which is free.  

• Requests that require more than mere retrieval of records, such as technical expertise to synthesize or reconfigure data, apply unique suppression rules to remove identifiability and/or legal expertise to determine how to comply with confidentiality requirements shall be charged actual rates based on the hourly rate of the staff member salary, attorney billable hourly rate, or contractor hourly rate, in accordance with applicable law including the Colorado Open Records Act. 

• In all cases, FASD will provide a written estimate of fees in advance.  The requestor may choose to proceed or narrow the request to reduce costs.  

In addition to DPS policy, FASD reserves the right, where it reasonably determines that multiple related requests have been submitted by the same requester or by coordinated requesters in a manner intended to divide a single request or to circumvent fees, to treat those requests as a single request; to require full payment of reasonably anticipated fees in advance; and to require full payment prior to the release of records. 

At no time will this policy be applied in a manner that effectively denies timely access to public records.  Any records which are producible and for which fees have been paid will be produced.  

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The school will provide a cost estimate before undertaking searches likely to extend beyond the first free hour, and FASD requires full payment of reasonably anticipated costs in full and in advance prior to the release of records unless alternative arrangements have been made.

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FASD follows the established statutory deadlines and processes for public-records production under CORA, including any extension available where extenuating circumstances exist. Because FASD is an operating school whose first responsibility is the safety and instruction of its students, responding to records requests will not take priority over the regular educational, operational, and safety duties of its staff towards the minor children under our care.  FASD will communicate with the requester regarding the anticipated timeline.

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If a CORA request is amended to modify the amount of any charges described above, the fees will be applied consistent with the provisions of such amendments.