John Tully v. Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion Charter School (SPR 20171517)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor ofR ecords November 6, 2017 SPR17/1517 Kathleen Wang Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion Charter School 317 Russell St Hadley, MA 01035 Dear Ms. Wang: I have received the petition of John Tully appealing the response of the Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion Charter School (School) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66 § 1O A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1 ). Mr. Tully specifically requested records pertaining to an email. The Public Records Law strongly favors disclosure by creating a presumption that all govermnental records are public records. G. L. c. 66, § lOA( 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, § 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, § 1O (b )(iv); 950 C.M.R. 32.06(3); see also Dist. Attorney for the Norfolk Dist. v. Flatley, 419 Mass. 507, 511 (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. To assist in requesting and responding to requests for public records please refer to our publication, A Guide to the Massachusetts Public Records Law. This document is available on the Intemet at http://WW\v.sec.state.ma,us/pre/prepdf/guide.pdf. Public Records Division attorneys are available during regular business hours to answer general questions regarding the Public Records Law. In addition, Public Records Division staff will visit a records custodian in person to conduct training workshops on the Public Records Law upon request. Please contact the Public Records Division directly at the telephone number provided in this determination for further information. 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

Kathleen Wang SPR17/1517 Page 2 November 6, 2017 Order This office has emailed you a copy of the. file and also mailed you a letter acknowledging the opening of this appeal. Accordingly, the School is hereby ordered to provide Mr. Tully with a response to the request, provided in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations within ten (1 0) 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, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: John Tully