Evans, Heather v. Greenfield, City of - Public Schools (SPR 20150788)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Shawn A. Williams Supervisor ofR ecords December 21, 2015 SPRlS/788 Mr. Peter Smith, Esq. 200 North Main Street, Suite 8 East Longmeadow, MA 01028 Dear Attorney Smith: I have received the petition of Heather Evans appealing the response of the Greenfield Public Schools (School) to her request for public records. G. L. c. 66 § 1O (b ); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). In an October 26, 2015 letter you informed this office that you represent the School in this matter. Ms. Evans requested a copy of seven (7) categories of certain records of the Superintendent of Schools. The responsive records consist of email and written correspondence, meeting minutes of the School Committee, grant budget information and employment contract information. The School provided a fee estimate and Ms. Evans appealed. A custodian of records may assess a reasonable fee for complying with a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10(a); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.06(2) (where cost of complying with a request for public records is expected to exceed ten dollars ($1 0.00), custodian of records shall provide written good faith estimate). Absent specific statutory authority to the contrary, the fees to be charged for complying with requests for public records are established by the Public Records Access Regulations (Regulations). See 950 C.M.R. 32.06 (fees for public records). The Regulations provide that in cases where search or segregation time is necessary a custodian of records may charge a pro-rated fee based on the hourly rate of the lowest paid employee who is capable of performing the task. 950 C.M.R. 32.06(1)(c). The Regulations define "search time" as the time needed to locate, pull from the file, copy and re-file public records, and "segregation time" as the time used to redact data that is exempt from non-exempt material. 950 C.M.R. 32.03. The search and segregation fees must reflect the actual cost of complying with a particular request. G. L. c. 66, § 10 ( a). The August 19, 2015 fee estimate provided by the School indicates that nearly 3,000 pages exist that are responsive to Ms. Evans' request. The estimate further explains that Ms. Evans will be charged $.20 per page for photocopies, $.50 per page for computer printouts, and OneAshburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 · (617) 727-2832 ·Fax (617) 727-5914 www.sec.state.ma.us/pre

Mr. Peter Smith, Esq. SPR15/788 Page Two December 21, 2015 possible "additional charges" for oversized copies. This portion of the request is in compliance with the Regulations. The estimate for search time, however, is not in compliance with the Regulations. The August 19letter estimates 10-12 hours for attorney review, 50-60 hours for Superintendent review and 20-30 hours for Administrative Staff review. The estimate does not provide an hourly rate breakdown for each level of review. Further, the estimate does not explain whether each level represents the lowest paid person capable of performing each portion of the task. Finally, it is not clear at all why any attorney review is required, let alone 10-20 hours. It is my understanding that your hourly rate is in excess of $100.00. In a discussion with a member of my legal staff, in November, you were asked to provide to Ms. Evans and this office a detailed explanation to support the number of hours and hourly rates assessed in your August 19,2015 estimate. To date, the School has not done so. I placed a call to you myself on December 15, 2015 to discuss the issues surrounding this appeal. I left a detailed voicemail message for you expressing my concerns. You did not return this call as of the date ofthis letter. Accordingly, whereas the School has not provided the sufficient detail to support its fee estimate, the School is hereby ordered to revise its fee estimate in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations. A copy of any such response must be provided to this office. It is preferable to send an electronic copy of this response to this office at pre@sec.state.ma.us. Once the fees are paid, the School u t pr vi e the responsive records. cc: Ms. Heather Evans