Question
I am just wondering how I can find out the rate of teacher absenteeism at my school. This information seems to be difficult to find, and yet absenteeism has been a big issue for my daughter’s education. She has been taught by substitute after substitute. Please advise as to what the source of this information might be, so that I can bring it forward and have the proper officials try to work toward solving the problem.
Answer
A good starting point for obtaining information about the rate of teacher absenteeism at your daughter’s school might be a request for records under California’s Public Records Act. Under the PRA, public records — which include “any writing containing information relating to the conduct of the public’s business prepared, owned, used, or retained by any state or local agency regardless of physical form or characteristics,” Govt. Code section 6252(e) — are presumed to be open to the public and must be disclosed unless a specific provision of the PRA or other law exempts them from disclosure.
Accordingly, a request to your school or school district for records reflecting teacher absenteeism might give you exactly what you are looking for. More information about requesting records under the PRA, including a sample request letter, is available at the FAC’s web site at https://firstamendmentcoalition.org/public-records/.
Asked & Answered posts should not be relied on as legal advice, and FAC makes no guarantees about their completeness or accuracy. All posts carry a date of publication that readers should take note of in assessing their usefulness, given that laws and interpretations of them may change over time. Posts predating Jan. 1, 2023, that discuss the California Public Records Act may contain statute numbers no longer in use. Please see this page for a table showing how the California Public Records Act has been renumbered.