Public Record Requests

General Information

The Commission’s public records requests are made through the State of Washington’s Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction’s (OSPI) website. The Commission also uses the OSPI Public Records Exemptions.

Please note: By clicking on the link, you will be taken to the OSPI website where you can make a request and also view exemptions.

The Commission uses the OSPI Appeal process for a Public Records Request Denial. That process can be accessed by the link on the left to the OSPI Public Records Request.

Submitting a Public Records Request

All requests received outside of the online system will be manually entered into the system.

You may submit a request using any one of the following options:

• Online Electronic Request Form (preferred)
• Email your request to WSCSC Public Records email
• Mail your request to:
  • Washington State Charter School Commission
  • Attn: Public Records Officer
  • P.O. Box 40996
  • Olympia, WA 98504-0996
• In Person:
  • Washington State Charter School Commission
  • 1068 Washington St. SE, Olympia, WA 98501

Student Education Records

When a parent or legal guardian wants to obtain copies of their child’s education records, the parent/legal guardian should contact the charter public school the child attends to obtain the records. When a charter public school has closed, requests for a minor child’s education records should typically be made to the school or district where the student transferred after the closure.

• If a closed charter school is part of a charter management organization (CMO), the charter management organization will typically be in possession of student education records that were not transferred to a new school or district after a charter school closure. The parent/legal guardian should contact the charter management organization to obtain the education records.
• If a charter school that has closed is a single school, the Washington State Charter School Commission may have possession of records which were not able to be transferred to a student’s new school or district after the school closed (for example, students who graduated before the charter school closed). A parent/legal guardian can contact the Commission to determine whether the Commission has possession of the education records for their child. To do so, please email wscscpublicrecords@k12.wa.us.

When a parent/legal guardian of a minor child is requesting their child’s education records, the request should be under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). Student records are generally not subject to disclosure under the Public Records Act. However, parents/legal guardians can typically obtain education records of their minor children after providing a signed FERPA release (there are some exceptions). A link to a FERPA release for the records of a minor student is here, and should be completed and returned to the Commission at this email address: wscscpublicrecords@k12.wa.us.

If you are a student/former student (rather than a parent/legal guardian) requesting records, contact the Commission and you will be provided with a modified FERPA release.

Fees Associated with Requests

There may be fees associated with your request. If there are fees, the OSPI Public Records Office will send you an invoice. OSPI will not produce any records until they receive the necessary payment. In accordance with RCW 42.56.120 and WAC 392-105-060, the OSPI fee schedule is as follows:

• Digitizing Hardcopy Files: $0.10 per page
• Electronic Documents: $0.05 per every four electronic files and/or email
• Photocopies: $0.15 per page
• Postage and Media: Based on actual costs incurred by agency
• Transmission of electronic records: $0.10 per gigabyte