Jorge Teixeira v. Brookline, Town of - Public Schools (SPR 20171495)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor ofR ecords October 31, 2017 SPR17/1495 Lynda A. Kirby Office Manager The Public Schools of Brookline 333 Washington Street Brookline, MA 02445 Dear Ms. Kirby: I have received the petition of Jorge Teixeira appealing the response of the Town of Brookline 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 in electronic form "settlement agreements entered into by your School District with parents and guardians, from January 1, 2011 through today, relative to the provision of special education services and/or educational placement(s) for students with disabilities, redacted of all personally identifying information." In a response dated July 31 2017, the School provided Mr. Teixeira with a fee estimate for the provision of responsive records. Mr. Teixeira appealed the fee estimate on the basis of copying costs and the School charging an hourly rate over $25 for copying and redacting. See SPR17/ 1046. The School provided Mr. Teixeira with a response on September 11, 2017. Unsatisfied with this response, Mr. Teixeira submitted this appeal. Fee estimates A municipality may assess a reasonable fee for the production of a public record except those records that are freely available for public inspection. G. L. c. 66, § 10(d). A municipality must provide a written response within ten business days, which can include an itemized, good faith estimate of any fees that may be charged to produce the records. G. L. c. 66, § 10(b)(viii). The fees must reflect the actual cost of complying with a particular request. Id. A maximum fee of five cents ($.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). 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 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

Lynda A. Kirby SPR1711495 Page 2 October 31,2017 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 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 CMR 32.06(4). The Town's September Jlh Response In the School's Septe~ber 11th response you first address Mr. Teixeira's question regarding copying costs since he requested the documents electronically. The School explains that they "do not have electronic copies of redacted settlement agreements." Further, the School states, "[w ]e only have signed hard copies of settlement agreements, which need to be copied and redacted by hand." The School then addresses Mr. Teixeira's second question regarding the fee estimate provided. You indicate the settlement agreements are locked in your office and that you are the person that works with them. However, the School indicates "we are willing to change the amount of the clerk charges to the clerk with the lower rate." Subsequent to the intervention by a staff member of the Public Records Division, I learned that a representative from the School intends on providing a revised fee estimate with a new hourly rate equal to or lower than $25. G. L. c. 66, § 1O (d)(iii). Conclusion Accordingly, I will consider this administrative appeal closed with the proviso that the School provide Mr. Teixeira with a revised fee estimate in compliance with Public Records Law within ten business days. 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 the School's response within ninety (90) days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Jorge Manuel Teixeira