Charles Miles v. Town of South Hadley - Public Schools (SPR 20180064)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division

Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records

January 29, 2018 SPR18/064

Nicholas Young, Ph.D., Ed.D., MBA Superintendent of Schools

South Hadley Public Schools

116 Main Street

South Hadley, MA 01075-2898

Dear Dr. Young:

I have received the petition of Charles Miles appealing the response of the Town of South Hadley Public Schools (School District) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.MLR. 32.08(1). Specifically, Mr. Miles requested a copy of:

1. Any reports, documents, emails or records, for the last five years, showing the dates each school has been out of compliance with the Individual Education Plan (IEP) requirements;

2. Copies of Conflict of Interest or Financial Interest Disclosure Forms, for the last five

years, filed by employees, administration and the Superintendent’s office, as required

by law;

Financial Audits for the last three years for the school district; and

4. Minutes from the executive sessions of the school committee meetings for each of the last twelve months, with any privacy data excluded.

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The School District provided an initial December 21, 2017 response and a January 9, 2018 response that informed Mr. Miles that the requested records could be provided, however,

the cost would be $10,000.00. As a result, Mr. Miles petitioned the Supervisor of Records, and this appeal was opened.

Municipal Fees and 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

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

Dr. Nicholas Young SPR18/064 Page 2 January 29, 2018

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, 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 C.M.R. 32.06(4).

Requests 1-4

Subsequent to the intervention by an attorney in the Public Records Division in a January 26" discussion with Attorney Fernand J. Dupere, the School District’s Legal Counsel, I learned that the School District is working to compile the records in Request Numbers 2, 3 and 4. The School District expressed that they will provide Mr. Miles records responsive to these request and waive all applicable fees.

Regarding Mr. Miles Request Number 1, Attorney Dupere informed this office that as he understands the request, in order to fulfill Mr. Miles’s request each student’s files would need to be culled along with each IEP for the last five (5) years. This review may reveal whether the School District was in compliance with the requirements of each of the IEPs for each of the last five years. Attorney Dupere believes that this would be a labor intensive request to satisfy; however, he informed this office that the School District is willing to work with Mr. Miles to fulfill his public records request. In addition, the School District discussed with a Public Records Division attorney providing Mr. Miles with a detailed response regarding Request Number 1 and seeking clarification and/or modification of the scope of his request in an attempt to produce the records sought in a more efficient and affordable manner. See G. L. c. 66, § 10(b)(vii). It is my understanding that the School District will do so within ten business days.

Order

Accordingly, the School District is hereby ordered to provide Mr. Miles with the records responsive to his requests 2, 3 and 4, in addition to a response regarding his Request Number 1, in accordance with the Public Records Law, its Access Regulations and this order within ten business days. It is preferable to send an electronic copy of this response to this office at pre@sec.state.ma.us.

Dr. Nicholas Young SPR18/064 Page 3 January 29, 2018

Mr. Miles may appeal the substantive nature of the School District’s response within ninety days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1).

Sincerely,

Pelltiea S. Murray Supervisor of Records

cc: Charles Miles Fernand F. Dupere, Esq.