John Spaulding v. Natick, Town of - Public Schools (SPR 20161209)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Shawn A. Williams Supervisor of Records December 21, 2016 SPR16/1209 Peter Sanchioni, Ph.D. Superintendent Town of Natick - Public Schools 13 East Central Street Natick, MA 01760 Dear Dr. Sanchioni: I have received the petition of John Spaulding appealing the response of the Town of Natick - Public Schools (School) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66 § lO(b); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). Specifically, Mr. Spaulding requested copies of what he describes as "nasty emails" he allegedly sent to certain School staff. This request was the subject of previous appeals. See SPRl 6/894 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (October 21, 2016); SPR16/1103 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (October 21, 2016). I closed SPR16/1103 in light of the School providing a response to Mr. Spaulding dated October 26, 2016. In an email dated December 20, 2016, Mr. Spaulding indicates he seeks further action with respect to this matter and this appeal (SPR16/1209) was opened as a result. Fees The School's October 26 response contained a fee estimate for the provision of responsive records. A custodian of records may assess a reasonable fee for complying with a request for public records. 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 ($10.00), custodian of records shall provide written good faith estimate). Absent specific statutory authority to the contrary, the fees to be charged for complying with requests for public records are established by the Public Records Access Regulations (Regulations). See 950 C.M.R. 32.06 (fees for public records). Under the current Regulations, a custodian of records may assess a maximum fee of five cents ($.05) per page for a black and white single or double-sided photocopy of a public record. See 950 C.M.R. 32.06(1)(a). One Ashburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 • (617) 727-2832• Fax: (617) 727-5914 sec.state.ma.us/pre• pre@sec.state.ma.us

Peter Sanchioni, Ph.D. SPR16/1209 Page 2 December 21, 2016 In addition to the copying fee, 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 refile 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, § 1O (a). In the October 26 response, Teresa Carney, on behalf of the School, explained there are 293 responsive emails. Ms. Carney indicates the School must review the emails "to determine if any redactions need to be made as to other protected information, i.e. protecting other student privacy of other information which may fall under an exemption to the [P]ublic [R]ecords [L]aw." The School provided a fee estimate of $68.77 which is comprised of the following: (1) copying costs of $0.05 per page, totaling $14.65; (2) 2 hours of search and segregation time "by the IT department" at an hourly rate of $27.06, totaling $54.21. In a supplemental email also dated October 26, you explained to Mr. Spaulding "[t]o determine which ones are "nasty" someone has to do the work of reading each one of them, removing any information that may be protected and the make copies." In light of the responses from the School on October 26, I find the School has met its burden in responding to Mr. Spaulding's request. Once Mr. Spaulding pays the fees, the School must provide him with responsive records. I will now consider this appeal cl cc: John Spaulding