Jorge Teixeira v. Hull, Town of - Public Schools (SPR 20171069)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor ofR ecords August 21, 2017 SPR17/1069 Judith Kuehn Assistant Superintendent/Records Access Officer Hull Public Schools 180 Harborview Road Hull, MA 02045 Dear Ms. Kuehn: I have received the petition of Jorge Teixeira appealing the response of the Hull Public Schools (School) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 1 OA; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, Mr. Teixeira requested records relating to the total amount paid for special education legal services by the School District for FY2015-2016 and to date for 2016- 2017; total student enrollment and total number of special education students placed in private placement for both FY2015-2016 and 2016-2017; and the name of the law firm that represented the District at certain times. The School provided documents, with redactions, indicating the amount paid for special education legal costs by the School for the 2015-2016 and the 2016-2017 academic years. The School also provided the name of the law firm. In addition, the School provided an estimate for the cost of responding to the request for documentation of total student enrollment and total number of special education students attending the schools and placed in private placement for both FY20 15-2016 and 2016-2017. The School estimates the time for search and review to be approximately one (1) hour at the rate of $25.00. Mr. Teixeira appealed the estimate stating it was his understanding that the first two (2) hours of redaction time are to be supplied free of charge. Fee estimates A municipality may assess a reasonable fee for the production of a public record except those records that are freely available for public inspection. G. L. c. 66, § 10 ( d). The fees must reflect the actual cost of complying with a particular request. I d. A maximum fee of five cents ($.05) per page may be assessed for a black and white single or double-sided photocopy of a public record. G. L. c. 66, § 10 ( d)(i). 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 Kuehn SPR17!1069 Page 2 August 21, 2017 Municipalities may not assess a fee for the first 2 hours of employee time to search for, compile, segregate, redact or reproduce the record or records requested unless the municipality has 20,000 people or less. G. L. c. 66, § 10 (d )(iii). Where appropriate, municipalities may include as part of the fee an hourly rate equal to or less than the hourly rate attributed to the lowest paid employee who has the necessary skill required to search for, compile, segregate, redact or reproduce a record requested, but the fee shall not be more than $25 per hour. Id. However, municipalities may charge more than $25 per hour if such rate is approved by the Supervisor of Records under a petition under G. L. c. 66, § 10 ( d)(iv). A municipality shall not assess a fee for time spent segregating and redacting a requested record unless such segregation or redaction is required by law or approved by the Supervisor of Records through a petition, G.L. c. 66, § 1 0( d). Determination I find the School must provide a supplemental response to Mr. Teixeira addressing whether the redactions are required by law and if the search and review are being performed by the lowest paid capable employee. In addition, the School must indicate the Town of Hull's population which may allow the School to charge for the first two hours of production. Accordingly, the School is ordered to provide Mr. Teixeira with a response to the request, provided in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations within ten business days. A copy of any such response must be provided to this office. It is preferable to send an electronic copy of this response to this office at pre@sec.state.ma.us. Sincerely, ~~ Supervisor of Records cc: Jorge Teixeira