CORA Requests
Schools, like all other government entities, are required under the Colorado Open Records Act (CORA) to make certain public records available for inspection. Under CORA, the “public records” subject to request include essentially any writing made, kept or maintained by a school (including computer files, emails, and other electronic resources), subject, however, to various exclusions, such as protected student information. The purpose of this law is to allow the citizens to see into the operations of the government and how taxpayer dollars are being spent.
The records of Banning Lewis Academy (BLA) are public unless otherwise protected from disclosure and shall be available for inspection during regular business hours upon request made to BLA in accordance with the applicable policies and procedures described here and/or otherwise put in place from time to time. There is no duty to create a public record that does not already exist.
Inspection of any physical records shall take place in a location designated by BLA’s public records manager in a manner not disruptive to operations at Banning Lewis Academy, and in the presence of the public records manager or a person designated thereby.
If you wish to submit a CORA request to BLA, please first review the information on this page and follow all applicable instructions. BLA is proud to be transparent and will respond to all CORA requests submitted in accordance with procedures outlined here.
Confidential Student Records
Banning Lewis Ranch believes that honest communication between parents and the teachers, principals and members of the community regarding our children’s education is critical to the success of each student. We do everything we can within the law to keep your child’s personal education information confidential.
Is my child’s educational information disclosable under CORA?
No. Just because something is a record under the statute, that does not mean it all must be produced if someone requests it. CORA includes protections to protect privacy, particularly when it comes to information about students.
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) protects a broad range of information about students from public inspection. Under this Federal law (which is recognized by CORA), “student-identifiable education information” cannot be disclosed to anyone who doesn’t need it to educate the student in a school without parent consent. This protected information includes grades and test scores, special education information, discipline records, student health information, and communications between parents and the school about the student’s education. In addition, state law protects student addresses (including email addresses), and telephone numbers.
How does BLA protect my student’s information?
When BLA receives a request for records under CORA, we undertake a private, internal review of all relevant records to identify and remove student education information. In most instances where records and emails reference students, the entire record is protected from public disclosure.
Submit CORA Request
Requested information will be returned in three business days if documents are readily available. Additional time may be necessary if documents are not easily obtained.
Please submit requests by completion of the BLA CORA Request Form.
Fees
Staff time
First hour: No Charge
Additional Time: $30.00/hour
Materials
Copies: $0.25/page
For payment
Please send a check or money order to Banning Lewis Preparatory Academy at 9433 Vista Del Pico Blvd. Colorado Springs, 80927 c/o CORA request; Amanda Hart
