John Spaulding v. Natick, Town of - Public Schools (SPR 20170107)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records January 25, 2017 SPR17/107 Timothy Luff Office of the Superintendent Natick Public Schools 13 East Central Street Natick, MA 01760 Dear Mr. Luff: I have received the petition of John Spaulding appealing the response of the Natick Public Schools- Office of the Superintendent (Schools) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66 § 1O A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1 ). Mr. Spaulding had requested a series of emails that he sent to the School that were described as "nasty." After two (2) previous appeals and determinations by this office on the matter, a response from the School was provided. Mr. Spaulding is now appealing the substantive nature of the School's response to his request. Previous Appeals This appeal is the subject of previous appeals and determinations. See SPR16/1209 Determinations ofthe Supervisor of Records (December 21, 2016); SPR17/086 Determinations ofthe Supervisor ofRecotds (January 23, 2017). The December 21 determination was closed with the proviso that, so long as Mr. Spaulding pays the fee estimate provided by the School, that "the School must provide him with responsive records." Once the fee estimate had been paid, the School provided emails responsive to his request. The School's response included all emails received from Mr. Spaulding from October 2015 to present. Mr. Spaulding appealed this response by the School, stating that he requested only the emails which were allegedly regarded as "nasty," rather than all ofthe emails he had sent to them. Public Records Law Under the Public Records Law, the School is not required to create a list of records or any record in response to a public records request. In addition, a public employee is not required to answer questions, or do research, or create documents in response to questions. See G. L. c. 66, 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

Timothy Luff SPR17/107 Page 2 January 25, 2017 § 10(a); 32 Op. Atty Gen. 157, 165 (May 18, 1977). The duty to comply with requests for information extends only to those records that exist and are in the custody of the custodian of records at the time of the request. See G. L. c. 4, § 7(26). The School has no obligation to determine with specificity which emails are regarded as "nasty," if it has not done so already, as this would be considered an answer to a question rather than compliance with the Public Records Law. By providing Mr. Spaulding with all emails that he sent to the school, the School has properly responded to his request. I will now consider this administrative appeal closed. Sincerely, ~~ /f}Uu;UUJ_ 0 Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: John Spaulding