Daniel J. Hedequist v. Wellesley, Town of - Public Schools (SPR 20170249)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records March 13, 2017 SPR17/249 Judith M. Belliveau Wellesley Public Schools - Assistant Superintendent 40 Kingsbury Street Wellesley, MA 02481 Dear Ms. Belliveau: I have received the petition of Dr. Dan Hedequist related to his requests for public records made to the town of Wellesley -Public Schools (School). G. L. c. 66 § 1 OA; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, Dr. Hedequist raises issues concerning records he requested from the School. The School had previously responded to Dr. Hedequist' s request with responsive records, but believing that the School has not fully complied, Dr. Hedequist petitioned this office. Previous appeal This request was the subject of a previous appeal. See SPRl 7 /225 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (February 24, 2017). This office closed SPRl 7 /225 with the School having provided to Dr. Hedequist a response along with responsive records to the request, provided in a manner consistent with the Public Records Law and its Regulations. The School provided a response dated February 23, 2017 and Dr. Hedequist appealed. Current appeal It is my understanding that Dr. Hedequist received a number of records including emails and documents pertaining to the Fiske Talent Show. Dr. Hedequist contends that the School did not provide all requested records and the categories of information at issue in the current appeal are "notes taken of some sort and correspondence regarding the change and the approval of such political acts to the program." 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

Judith M. Belliveau SPRl 7/249 Page 2 March 13, 2017 All responsive records In his February 24 and February 26, 2017 appeal petitions, Dr. Hedequist asserts that the School "completely ignores our latest request for all documents from the time of auditions for the Fiske elementary school talent show until April 14, 2016." Dr. Hedequist refers to these documents as "notes taken of some sort and correspondence regarding the change and the approval of such political acts to the program. Those documents, as well as others related to this change are responsive to our request." In an email response to Dr. Hedequist dated February 23, 2017, you informed him that "emails, documents and any other information we have regarding the Talent Show prior to noon on April 14th,, was attached. In a subsequent response emailed to Dr. Hedequist on March 1 oth you stated that all records responsive have been provided and that the School had spoken with teachers to collect any and all documents and conducted a thorough email search. You confirmed that the records provided previously constituted the full range of information, documents, notes, emails, etc. related to the requests from Dr. and Mrs. Hedequist. 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, § lO(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). Whereas the School indicated it provided all responsive records, I will consider this appeal closed. If Dr. Hedequist is not satisfied with the determination in this matter, this office shares jurisdiction with the Superior Court of the Commonwealth. See G. L. c. 66, § lOA (pursuing administrative appeal does not limit availability of applicable judicial remedies). Sincerely, .~tmwvu~ Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Dr. Dan Hedequist