Anthony J. Bilotta v. Leominster, City of - Public Schools (SPR 20160270)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Shawn A. Williams Supervisor ofR ecords May 3, 2016 SPR16/270 Mr. James Jolicoeur Superintendent of Schools Leominster Public Schools 24 Church Street Leominster, MA 01453 Dear Mr. Jolicoeur: I have received the petition of Anthony J. Bilotta appealing the nomesponse of the Leominster Public Schools- Leominster High School to his request for public records. G. L. c. 66 § 10(b); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). Specifically, Mr. Bilotta requested a copy of the 2012 football rosters for varsity, junior varsity and freshman football squads. Having received no response, Mr. Bilotta 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 (10) 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. The Leominster High School is advised that all records custodians must comply with both the Public Records Law and the Regulations with respect to the timeliness of response. I find that the Leominster High School (High School) has failed to respond to a request for public records, and has failed to rebut any presumption that the requested records are public records. The High School was provided with not only Mr. Bilotta's request, and the School District was provided with an acknowledgment from this office dated April25, 2016 providing an appeal number and notice that a public records appeal had been opened by this office. On April27, 2016, after a telephone conversation with the School's Athletic Director regarding this request and appeal, an attorney on my staff provided you and the Athletic Director with a copy of the appeal file. The School District has indicated that a written response will be provided to Anthony J. Bilotta. Accordingly, I will consider this administrative appeal closed with the proviso that, within ten (1 0) days, the School District provides a written response to Mr. Bilotta, made in OneAshburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 · (617) 727-2832 ·Fax (617) 727-5914 www.sec.state.ma. us/pre

Mr. James Jolicoeur SPR16/270 Page 2 May 3, 2016 accordance with the Public Records Law, its Access Regulations and this order. If the School District maintains that any portion of the responsive records are exempt from disclosure it must, within ten (1 0) days provide to Mr. Bilotta a written explanation, with specificity, how a particular exemption applies to each record or each portion of a 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, § lO(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 ofrecords shall provide written good faith estimate). To assist in requesting and responding to requests for public records I advise a review of 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 and other members of 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 c stodian in person to conduct training workshops on the Public Records Law upon request. lease contact my office directly at the telephone number provided in this determination furth r information. Supervisor of Records cc: Mr. Anthony J. Bilotta