IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON DIVISION ONE ERASMUS BAXTER, ASIA FIELDS, ) No. 82418-0-I and JULIA FURUKAWA, ) ) Respondents, ) ) v. ) ) WESTERN WASHINGTON ) PUBLISHED OPINION UNIVERSITY, an agency of the ) State of Washington, ) ) Respondent, ) ) JOHN DOES 2, 3, 4, and 6, ) ) Appellants. ) ) VERELLEN, J. — In this Public Records Act dispute, three journalists requested the “final results” of “disciplinary proceedings” including the student’s name where Western Washington University had determined a student was responsible for a crime of violence or nonforcible sex offense in the last five years. Four students appeal the trial court’s determination that the “final results” including the names of the students are subject to public disclosure. Washington’s Public Records Act (PRA) mandates broad public disclosure.1 Its exemptions are to be construed narrowly to ensure that the public interest is fully 1 Ch. 42.56 RCW. No. 82418-0-I/2 protected. We conclude the disciplinary results are not exempt from disclosure under RCW 42.56.230(1), the “public schools student file” exemption, because the term “public schools” as used in that exemption does not contemplate postsecondary educational institutions. We also conclude the PRA “other statute”2 exemption does not extend to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA) here because the “final results” exception to FERPA allows disclosure of the “final results of any disciplinary proceeding” where the alleged student committed “any crime of violence” or “nonforcible sex offense” in violation of the institution’s rules or policies.3 And Washington state regulations governing disciplinary proceedings at the university pursuant to the university’s student code of conduct stand alone and therefore do not constitute an “other statute” exemption under the PRA. Finally, the students do not establish an actionable lack of notice that their disciplinary results could be disclosed under the PRA. We affirm. FACTS Between 2013 and 2018, John Does 1 through 7 committed various crimes of violence and/or nonforcible sex offenses while they were students, in violation of the university’s student code of conduct. 2 RCW 42.56.070(1). 3 20 U.S.C. § 1232g. 2 No. 82418-0-I/3 On October 10, 2018, three journalists, Erasmus Baxter, Asia Fields, and Julia Furukawa, sent a public records request to the university’s public records officer, Dolapo Akinrinade. The journalists’ request stated: Under Washington’s Public Records Act, we would like to request the final results, including the student’s name, of disciplinary proceedings where Western has determined a student was responsible for a crime of violence or nonforcible sexual offense in the last five years. If you deny any part of this request, please cite the specific exemption that applies.[4] In response, university officials used Symplicity Advocate, a software tool, “to create a spreadsheet containing data potentially responsive to the request.” 5 On November 8, 2018, “[a]fter conducting research and verifying that the documents were responsive,” Akinrinade provided the journalists with “(i) a table of sexual misconduct offenses and resulting discipline imposed, with the names of the offenders redacted, …
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