Fisher, Damien v. Winchendon, Town of - Public Schools (SPR 20150157)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Shawn A. Williams Supervisor ofR ecords May 21, 2015 SPRlS/157 Mr. Brandon Moss, Esq. Murphy, Hesse, Toomey, & Lehane, LLP Crown Colony Plaza 300 Crown Colony Drive; Suite 410 Quincy, MA 02169 Dear Attorney Moss: I have received the petition ofDamien Fisher of the Gardner News, Inc. appealing the February 20, 2015 revised written, good faith estimate from the Winchendon Public Schools (Schools) regarding Mr. Fisher's request for public records. G. L. c. G. L. c. 66 § 10(b); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). Specifically, Mr. Fisher requested email records, sent to various individuals and responses from various individuals from September 1, 2013 through October 1, 2014. Initially, Mr. Fisher was provided with a fee estimate for "paper copies" of the emails at a total cost of $4,667.82, and the Supervisor of Records ordered the Schools to revise the estimate. See SPR14/616 Supervisor of Records determination of January 26, 2014. On February 20, 2015, the Schools' Superintendent Dr. Salah Khelfaoui provided Mr. Fisher with a revised, fee estimate for the email records, however while the estimate is $802.00 lower in cost, the estimate does not detail the amount of segregation time calculated at a specific hourly rate of an attorney to review the records, totaling a $1,000.00 cost for segregation of the records. It is my understanding that Dr. Klelfaoui stated the segregation of any exempt material may be conducted by the firm, instead of himself, however neither Mr. Fisher nor this office has been informed what the hourly rate would be and if it is the firm that will do the segregation. The February 20 estimate only states that "review and redaction time" will cost Mr. Fisher one thousand dollars ($1 000.00). Nor does the estimate explain how an attorney is the lowest paid person capable of redacting the records. Secondly, the estimate still assesses a cost of obtaining the emails at $2865.82, which is the cost of searching for and printing the emails, along with a fee of fifty cents ($.50) for computer-generated printed copies of 5,286 pages of emails. Dr. Khelfaoui explained that "the Schools cannot provide the emails in native/electronic format because redacting email messages is extremely time consuming and will raise the cost even more." He also informed Mr. Fisher that much of the information contains attachments that are in PDF format and cannot be redacted OneAshburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 · (617) 727-2832. Fax (617) 727-5914 www.sec.state.ma. us/pre

Mr. Brandon Moss, Esq. SPR15/157 Page Two May 21, 2015 electronically. Therefore, Dr. Khelfaoui states that the emails with the attachments will have to be printed and then redacted. I understand that an outside technology firm is charged with conducting the search and printing of the emails, and that Mr. Fisher is charged 7.5 hours at $2 9. 71 per hour for that. However, Mr. Fisher should be given the option of obtaining the records in electronic format where no text is required to be redacted. There is no justification for printing every single responsive page, as it is unclear whether each page would. require redaction. The Schools must justify the costs of providing the emails in native format versus the cost of computer-generated paper records. If any of the emails can be redacted electronically or if the emails can be copied to a portable storage device for quick review of any exempt materials, then it should be done. Any emails that cannot be redacted electronically could be printed and then redacted. Whereas, the Schools have not met its burden of providing a reasonable estimate, and/or providing support to justify the February 20, 2015 estimate already provided, I find that the February 20 estimate is not in compliance with the Public Records Law and its Regulations. Accordingly, the Schools are ordered to reduce its estimate for segregation time to the lowest paid individual within the Schools who is capable of redacting exempt material from the emails, and must provide Mr. Fisher with an estimate for providing the emails in electronic format versus paper so that Mr. Fisher may be able to make a decision that is in his best interest. Mr. Fisher must receive the revised estimate within ten (1 0) days. cc: Mr. Damien Fisher Dr. Salah Khelfaoui