Ronald Alexander v. Wellesley, Town of - Public Schools (SPR 20171141)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor ofRecords September 5,201 7 SPRl711141 Ivria G. Fried, Esq. Miyares and Harrington LLP 40 Grove Street, Suite 190 Wellesley, MA 02482 Dear Attorney Fried: I have received the petition of Ronald Alexander appealing the response of the Wellesley Public School Department (School or Department) to his request for public records. G. L. c. 66, (j l0A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, Mr. Alexander requested a redacted version of documents previously produced by the School. Previous determinations This request was the subject of a petition submitted by the Town. SPRl71899 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (July 10,2017). This matter was also the subject of an appeal by Mr. Alexander. See SPR1711088 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (August 18,201 7). I closed SPR1711088 in light of the School's July 17,201 7 and August 17, 2017 responses. Mr. Alexander appealed these responses and SPR1711141 was opened as a result. The Public Records Law The Public Records Law strongly favors disclosure by creating a presumption that all governmental records are public records. G. L. c. 66, (j 10A(d); 950 C.M.R. 32.03(4). "Public records" is broadly defined to include all documentary materials or data, regardless of physical form or characteristics, made or received by any officer or employee of any town of the Commonwealth, unless falling within a statutory exemption. G. L. c. 4, (j 7(26). It is the burden of the records custodian to demonstrate the application of an exemption in order to withhold a requested record. G. L. c. 66, (j lO(b)(iv); 950 C.M.R. 32.06(3); see also Dist. Attorney for the Norfolk Dist. v. Flatley, 419 Mass. 507, 5 11 (1995) (custodian has the burden of establishing the applicability of an exemption). To meet the specificity requirement a custodian must not only cite an exemption, but must also state why the exemption applies to the withheld or redacted portion of the responsive record. One Ashburton Place, Room 17 19, Boston, Massachusetts 02 108 (6 17) 727-2832- Fax: (6 17) 727-59 14 sec.state.ma.us/pre pre@sec.state.ma.us