Tom Quinn v. Worcester, City of - Public Schools (SPR 20160011)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Shawn A. Williams Supervisor ofR ecords January 29, 2016 SPR16/011 Mr. David M. Moore, Esq. City Solicitor City of Worcester City Hall, Room 301 455 Main Street Worcester, MA 01608 Dear Attorney Moore: I have received the petition of Tom Quinn of Worcester Magazine appealing the non response ofthe City of Worcester-Public Schools (School) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66 § 1O (b ); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). Specifically, Mr. Quinn requested a copy of: 1. Memos sent by the School's Superintendent with information pertaining to school employees who have been arrested in the last three (3) years, and 2. Memos sent by the Superintendent on August 3, 2015 Mr. Quinn sent his request on September 23, 2015. Despite multiple follow up email correspondence during September, October and November 2015 Mr. Quinn received no response to his request. Mr. Quinn appealed the School's failure to provide a response to his request. Response provided subsequent to intervention of this office By acknowledgment letter dated January 6, 2016 my office notified you ofMr. Quinn's appeal. Only subsequent to email contact to the School by an attorney on my staff was a response provided to Mr. Quinn's request. In this response, dated January 26, 2016 the School provided Mr. Quinn with a single August 3, 2015 email from the former superintendent. In a telephone conversation with an attorney on my staff, and response to a question regarding the existence of any other responsive records, you indicated that you would need to confer with the office of the current superintendent. You were advised during that call of the obligations of records custodians in responding to requests for public records. One Ashburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 · (617) 727-2832 ·Fax (617) 727-5914 www.sec.state.ma. us/pre

Mr. David M. Moore, Esq. SPR16/011 Page 2 January 29, 2016 Failure to timely respond to a request for public records The School's response was not made in compliance with the timeliness requirements of the Public Records Law and its Access Regulations. The January 26,2016 email response was one hundred twenty-five (125) days after Mr. Quinn's request. G. L. c. 4, § 7 (26); 950 C.M.R. 32 et seq. A record custodian must comply with a public records request as soon as is practicable, without unreasonable delay, and always within ten (10) calendar days. G. L. c. 66, § 10(a); 950 C.M.R. 32.05(2). The School is advised that all responses to requests for public records must be made in compliance with the timeliness requirement of the Access Regulations. Failure to notify Mr. Quinn of administrative remedies In its January 26 response it denied Mr. Quinn's request for records responsive other than the single email provided. In this response the School failed to inform Mr. Quinn of the administrative remedy to a denial of access. A custodian must advise the person denied access of his or her remedies. 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Failure to state with specificity applicability of claimed exemptions to responsive records In your January 26 email you state that, other than one email provided to Mr. Quinn, "documents pertaining to school employee arrests are not subject to disclosure under two exemptions in the public records law." The email cites the statutory and privacy exemptions to the Public Records Law, providing no other information to justify withholding all records. G. L. c. 4, § 7 (26) (a), (c); G. L. c. 6, § 167. A records custodian must provide all non-exempt portions of records in response to a request. The statutory exemptions are narrowly construed and are not blanket in nature. See Reinstein v. Police Comm'r of Boston, 378 Mass. 281,289-90 (1979). Any existing responsive records may contain some non-exempt information. If so, any non-exempt, segregable portion of a public record is subject to mandatory disclosure. G. L. c. 66, § 10(a). Mr. Quinn requested memos and correspondence related to arrests of employees of the School in the past three years. The January 26 response fails to meet the specificity requirement in the Public Records Law as it does not state why non-exempt information cannot be provided. Order I find the School failed to meet the specificity requirement in denying access to public records. Accordingly, the School is hereby ordered, within ten (10) days of this order, to provide Mr. Quinn with a revised written response to requests, prepared in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations. If the School maintains that any portion of the responsive records are exempt from disclosure it must, within ten (1 0) days provide to Mr.

Mr. David M. Moore, Esq. SPR16/011 Page 3 January 29, 2016 Quinn a written explanation, with specificity, how a particular exemption applies to each record. To meet the specificity requirement a custodian must not only cite an exemption, but must also state why the exemption applies to the withheld or redacted portion of the responsive record. 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. If there are any fees associated with this response a written, good faith estimate must be provided. G. L. c. 66, § 1O (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 ($10.00), custodian of records shall provide written good faith estimate). Once the fees are paid, you must provide the responsive records. Guide to the Massachusetts Public Records Law; attorney on call; training available To assist the School in responding to requests for public records I have enclosed a copy of our publication, A Guide to the Massachusetts Public Records Law. This document is also available on the Internet, free of charge, at http://www.sec.state.ma.us/pre/prepdf/guide.pdf. Attorneys on my staff are available during regular business hours to answer general questions regarding the Public Records Law. In addition, members of my staff will visit a records custodian in person to conduct training workshops on the Public Records Law upon request. Please contact my office directly at the telephone number below for further information. illiams cc: Mr. Tom Quinn Dr. Marco Rodrigues, Superintendent