Claire Barden v. Winchester, Town of - Public Schools (SPR 20170717)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor ofR ecords June 1, 2017 SPR17/717 Judith A. Evans Superintendent Winchester Public Schools 40 Samoset Street Winchester, MA 01890 Dear Ms. Evans: I have received the petition of Claire Barden appealing the response of the Winchester Public Schools (School) to her request for public records. G. L. c. 66 § lOA; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, Ms. Barden requested financial records maintained by the School relating to salaries. Unsatisfied with the School's response, Ms. Barden petitioned this office and this appeal was opened as a result. The duty to comply with requests for records extends to those records that exist and are in the possession, custody, or control of the custodian of records at the time of the request. See G. L. c. 66, § IO(a)(ii). The School must explain whether it possesses any other responsive records and use its knowledge of the records to facilitate providing any additional responsive records. G.L. c. 66, § IO(b)(vii) (a municipality shall suggest a reasonable modification ofthe scope of the request or offer to assist the requestor to modify the scope of the request if doing so would enable the agency or municipality to produce records sought more efficiently and affordably). Ms. Barden must also clarify what type of additional records she is seeking. G.L. c. 66, § IO(a)(i) (the request must reasonably describe the public record sought). Subsequent to the intervention by a staff member of the Public Records Division, I learned that a representative from the School indicated their willingness to provide a supplemental response to address Ms. Barden's concerns. Accordingly, I will consider this administrative appeal closed with the proviso that the School provide Ms. Barden with said response within ten business days. It is preferable to send an electronic copy of this response to this office at pre@sec.state.ma.us. Ms. Barden may appeal the substantive nature of the School's response within ninety days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). 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 A. Evans SPR17/717 Page 2 June 1, 2017 Sincerely, ··~ Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Claire Barden