Jorge Teixeira v. Bedford, Town of - Public Schools (SPR 20171180)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor ofR ecords September 7, 2017 SPR17/1180 Marianne Vines, M.Ed. Director of Special Education Bedford Public Schools 97 McMahon Rd Bedford, MA 01730 Dear Director Vines: I have received the petition of Jorge Teixeira appealing the response of Bedford 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, in a letter dated July 30, 2017, Mr. Teixeira requested electronic copies of "Settlement agreements entered into by your School district with parents and guardians, from January 1, 2011 through today, relative to the provision ofspecial education services and/or educational placement(s) for students with disabilities, redacted of all personally identifying information." In a letter dated August 21, 2017, Marianne Vines, Director of Special Education, responded to his request with a fee estimate for the provision of the responsive records. Mr. Teixeira filed an appeal with this office, rejecting the nature of the School's response. 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. Id. A maximum fee of five cents per page may be assessed for a black and white single or double-sided paper copies or printouts public record. G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(i); 950 CMR 32.07(2)(e). A fee shall not be assessed for electronic copies or copies of public records transmitted via facsimile. G. L. c. 66 § 1 0( d)(i); See 950 CMR 32.07(2)(±). Municipalities may not assess a fee for the first two 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. 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

Marianne Vines, M.Ed. SPR17/1180 Page 2 August 31, 2017 . 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 fee shall not be assessed for time spent segregating or redacting records unless such segregation or redaction is required by law or approved by the Supervisor of Records under a petition under G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv). See G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iii); 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4). G. L. c. 66, § IO(e) provides that "[a] records access officer shall not charge a fee for a public record unless the records access officer responded to the requestor within 10 business days under subsection (b)." See also 950 C.M.R 32.06(2)(c ) (indicating that "a records access officer shall not charge a fee for the provision of a public record unless the records access officer responded to the requester within ten business days under M.G.L. c. 66, § 10(b)"). G. L. c. 66, § 1O (b) provides that a written response must be provided not later than ten business days after the initial receipt of the request. This response must contain certain information, including, a confirmation of receipt ofthe request, and, where applicable, identify a reasonable time frame to produce records, suggest a modification of the scope of the request, and include an itemized fee estimate. See G. L. c. 66, § 1O (b ). Based on a review ofthe file, I find the School must explain how it responded to Mr. Teixeira's July 30th request in a manner consistent with G.L. c. 66, § 1 0( e) and 950 C.M.R~ 32.06(2)( c). Failure to demonstrate compliance with these statutory and regulatory provisions may prevent the Department from assessing a fee for the provision of responsive records. Order Accordingly, the School is hereby ordered to provide Mr. Teixeira with a response 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. Mr. Teixeira may appeal the substantive nature of this response within ninety days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Jorge Teixeira