Jeanne Teichert v. Andover, Town of - Public Schools (SPR 20171032)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records August 10,2017 SPR17/1032 Mr. Paul Szymanski Assistant Superintendent Town of Andover Public Schools 36R Bartlet Street Andover, MA 01810 Dear Mr. Szymanski: I have received the petition of Jeanne Teichert appealing the July 19, 2017 response of the Town of Andover Public Schools (School) to her request for a public record. G. L. c. 66, § lOA; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, Mrs. Teichert requested a copy ofthe Andover High School Climate and Culture Survey (Survey). The School provided Mrs. Teichert with an un-redacted copy of the Survey in both .pdf and Excel Spreadsheet formats. Mrs. Teichert appealed. She questioned why the Survey results were not provided in "Google Form" format and whether the raw data concerning ethnicity was modified. Prior appeal and determination The responsive Survey was the subject of a prior appeal and determination. See SPR17 /804 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (June 28, 2017). In my June 28th determination, I requested that the School provide a supplemental response to explain its exemption claims and why the completed Survey could not be provided, even in a redacted format. On July 1i 1 after consultation with Andover High School Principal, Philip Comad, the \ School withdrew its exemption claims regarding the gender/ethnicity designations on the Survey, and provided Mrs. Teichert with the full results of the Survey, including gender/ethnicity and comments of the individual students, as requested. In a July 20th response to Mrs. Teichert and copied to this office, you explained that the Excel file that the School provided is in fact the native format ofthe Survey record in the School's custody. As you explained, and the School's Legal Counsel, Caroline Thibeault of Deutsch Williams explained to a Public Records Division attorney in a telephone conversation on August 9th' the Survey was taken by the students using a Google Forms platform. The Google platform only allows auser, in this case the School, to download and save the record into a Microsoft Office document. The complete Survey was 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

Paul Szymanski SPR17/1032 Page 2 August 10,2017 downloaded automatically into a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, which is the Survey's electronic format of the record itself. Therefore, the Survey downloaded and saved into the Excel spreadsheet is the record in the School's custody. The School provided Mrs. Teichert with not only the Excel spreadsheet, but also a .pdf version of the full, un-redacted Survey results via email to provide her with meaningful access to the information she sought. Both the Excel spreadsheet and the .pdf allow Mrs. Teichert to review the questions students were asked, each individual answer to the questions, and the full content of the open response comments, as Mrs. Teichert requested. Finally, you stated that both ih the spreadsheet and .pdf records that the School sent Mrs. Teichert on July 1 is in the format she requested, with the text wrapped so that the complete text of each open response answer is viewable. Conclusion Accordingly, whereas Mrs. Teichert was provided with the full and un-redacted Survey in the format that is in the custody of the School, I consider this administrative appeal closed. If Mrs. Teichert is not satisfied with the resolution of this administrative appeal, please be advised that this office shares jurisdiction with the Superior Court of the Commonwealth. See G. L. c. 66, § 1O (b) (pursuing administrative appeal does not limit availability of applicable judicial remedies). Sincerely, ~J1'l{WL~ Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Jeanne Teichert Caroline Thibeault, Esq.