Timothy R. McGuire v. Fall River, City of - Public Schools, B.M.C. Durfee High School (SPR 20160269)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Shawn A. Williams Supervisor ofR ecords May 3, 2016 SPR16/269 Ms. Maria Pontes Principal B.M.C. Durfee High School 360 Elsbree Street Fall River, MA 02720 Dear Ms. Pontes: I have received the petition of Timothy McGuire appealing the nonresponse of the City of Fall River- Public Schools, B.M.C. Durfee High School (School) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66 § lO(b); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). Specifically, Mr. McGuire requested "[a]ll documents, including e-mails distributed by the faculty adviser to the Durfee High Chapter of the Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) to students who are members of that group ... since September of 2014" and "[a]ll documents including e-mails, sent by the Durfee Chapter of the GSA to any agency of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts since September of2014." Having received no response, Mr. McGuire petitioned this office. Under the Public Records Law and the Access Regulations (Regulations) all requests for public records must be met with a response within ten (1 0) days of the request. G. L. c. 66, § 10(b); 950 C.M.R. 32.05. The response may be an offer to provide records, a fee estimate for provision of the records, or a denial. All records custodians must comply with both the Public Records Law and the Regulations with respect to the timeliness of response. Subsequent to the opening of this appeal, an acknowledgement letter was mailed, a copy of the appeal file was e-mailed, and a member of my staff attempted to contact you by phone. I will consider this administrative appeal closed with the proviso that the School provides a written response to Mr. McGuire within ten (1 0) days. Mr. McGuire may appeal the substantive nature of the School's response within ninety (90) days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). 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. McGuire a written explanation, with spec?ficity, 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 OneAshburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 · (617) 727-2832 ·Fax (617) 727-5914 www.sec.state.ma. us/ pre

Ms. Maria Pontes SPR16/269 Page 2 May 3, 2016 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. To assist in requesting and responding to requests for public records please refer to our publication, A Guide to the Massachusetts Public Records Law. This document is 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 provided in this determination fo further information. s, cc: Mr. Timothy McGuire