Jorge Teixeira v. Brookline, Town of - Public Schools (SPR 20171592)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor ofR ecords November 28, 2017 SPR17/1592 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 Brookline Public Schools (School) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 1O A; 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." This appeal was the subject of two other appeals. See SPRl 7/1046; SPR/1495. In a response dated October 30, 2017, the School provided Mr. Teixeira with a revised fee estimate. 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, § lO(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, § 1O (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 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, 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 SPRl 7/1592 Page2 November 28, 2017 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, § lO(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, § lO(d)(iv). See G. L. c. 66, § lO(d)(iii); 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4). The School's October 30th Response The School indicated in its October 30th response that they would lower the clerk rate to $25.00 per hour. Based on a telephone conversation with a member of the Public Records Division, I learned the School is charging for the time to complete redactions required by law under Exemption (a) because the requested records contain private student information exempt from disclosure. G. L. c. 71, § 34D; 603 C.M.R. 23.02(5); G. L. c. 66, § lO(d)(iv); see G. L. c. 66, § lO(d)(iii); 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4). The School clarified it is waiving the first two hours as required by law and the 1.5 hours assessed for "copy charges" are part of the redaction process, which includes removing staples from the hard copies of the settlement agreements in order to scan them. Given that Mr. Teixeira requested the documents electronically, the School indicated it would waive the copying charges ($12.10) as well as the postage charge ($6.00). The School agreed to send Mr. Teixeira a revised fee estimate reflecting these changes. Conclusion Accordingly, I will consider this administrative appeal closed with the proviso the School provide Mr. Teixeira with a revised fee estimate. 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