Lisa Nelson v. Grafton, Town of - Public Schools (SPR 20180264)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor ofR ecords March 8, 2018 SPRlS/264 Jay Cummings Superintendent Grafton Public Schools 30 Providence Road Grafton, MA 01519 Dear Superintendent Cummings: I have received your petition on behalf of the Grafton Public Schools (School) seeking an extension of time to furnish copies of requested records. G. L. c. 66, § 10(c); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4). As required by law, the School furnished a copy ofthis petition to the requestor. G. L. c. 66, § 10(c). Specifically, on February 26, 2018, Lisa Nelson submitted a request for copies of all ofher son's educational records. Petitions for an extension of time Under the Public Records Law, upon a showing of good cause, the Supervisor of Records (Supervisor) may grant a single extension to an agency not to exceed 20 business days and a single extension to a municipality not to exceed 30 business days. In determining whether there has been a showing of good cause, the Supervisor shall consider, but shall not be limited to considering: (i) the need to search for, collect, segregate or examine records; (ii) the scope of redaction required to prevent unlawful disclosure; (iii) the capacity or the normal business hours of operation of the agency or municipality to produce the request without the extension; (iv) efforts undertaken by the agency or municipality in fulfilling the current request and previous requests; (v) whether the request, either individually or as part of a series of requests from the same requestor, is frivolous or intended to harass or intimidate the agency or municipality; and (vi) the public interest served by expeditious disclosure. G. L. c. 66 § 10(c). 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

Jay Cummings SPR18/264 Page2 March 8, 2018 If the Supervisor determines that the request is part of a series of contemporaneous requests that are frivolous or designed to intimidate or harass, and the requests are not intended for the broad dissemination of information to the public about actual or alleged government activity, the Supervisor may grant a longer extension or relieve the agency or municipality of its obligation to provide copies of the records sought. Id . The filing of a petition does not affect the requirement that a Records Access Officer (RAO) shall provide an initial response to a requester within ten business days after receipt of a request for public records. 950 C.M.R. 36.06(4)(b). Current petition In the petition, you indicate the School is "requesting a thirty-day extension for the provision of the emails. If the extension is granted, the requested emails (redacted) will be available by the end of the day Friday, April 6th." The School indicates "requested copies of physical records ... are being processed and we expect those to be available within ten business days of her request (available by the end of the day Friday, March 9)." The School explains the emails Ms. Nelson requested "involves redaction of over 4,000 emails. The magnitude of the redaction of so many emails will unduly burden the other responsibilities of the Grafton Public Schools." I find that in light of the volume and scope of the request, as well as the redaction required of the responsive records given the student information contained in the records, the School has established good cause to permit an extension of time for the February 1st requests. Conclusion For the reasons discussed above, the School is granted an extension of time to provide a response to Ms. Nelson. The response must be provided by April 6, 2018, in a manner consistent with the Public Records Law, its Access Regulations and my previous determination. See 17/1114. Ms. Nelson may appeal the substantive nature of the School's response within ninety days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Ms. Nelson may seek judicial review of this decision by commencing a civil action in the superior court under G. L. c. 66 § 1O A( c). Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Lisa Nelson