Zachary Spilman v. Dover-Sherborn Regional School District (SPR 20180288)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records March 20, 2018 SPRlS/288 Joan L. Stein, Esq. Stoneman, Chandler & Miller, LLP 99 High Street Boston, MA 02110 Dear Attorney Stein: I have received the petition of Zachary Spilman appealing the response of the Dover Sherborn School Committee Negotiation Team (Committee) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § lOA; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, on April 7, 2017, Mr. Spilman requested a copy of the minutes and other documents concerning executive session meetings held by the Committee regarding the negotiations with the Dover-Sherborn Education Association in 2016 and 2017. Previous appeal-SPR17/477 In its March 31, 2017 response, the Committee denied Mr. Spilman' s request pursuant to an exception in the Open Meeting Law (OML) for G. L. c. 30A, § 21(a)(3). The Committee withheld the executive session meeting minutes because disclosure would defeat the lawful purpose of the executive sessions, which were held to discuss strategy for collective bargaining and/or litigation. On April 6, 2017, Mr. Spilman filed an OML complaint with the Office of the Attorney General's (AGO) Division of Open Government and a petition to the Supervisor of Records (Supervisor) for an appeal on April 7, 2017. See SPRl 7/477 Determination of the Supervisor of ih Records (April 7, 2017). In my April determination, I informed Mr. Spilman that an interpretation of the OML falls within the authority of the AGO and not with the Supervisor. I found that it was necessary to first obtain an opinion from the AGO as to whether the Committee properly claimed any portion of the OML to withhold the executive session meeting minutes and other documents pertaining to those meetings. Accordingly, I closed SPRl 7/477 pending the AGO's review. 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

William H. McAlduff, Jr. SPR18/288 Page2 March 20, 2018 Current appeal - SPRJ 8/288 In a March 6th petition, Mr. Spilman requested that the Supervisor re-open his previous appeal pertaining to his request for 2016 and 2017 executive session minutes and related documents of the Committee, as the AGO has rendered a decision in his OML complaint regarding the requested records. As a result, the current appeal was opened. On February 16, 2018, Assistant Attorney General KerryAnne Kilcoyne, in the AGO's Division of Open Government, issued a decision regarding Mr. Spilman' s 2017 OML complaint. The AGO found that the Committee did not violate the OML by withholding the executive session minutes because at the time of Mr. Spilman' s request, the Committee was still engaged in an ongoing collective bargaining negotiation. Attorney Kilcoyne stated, "[s]ince a contract has now been reached, we recommend that the Committee publicly release its executive session minutes as publication of the minutes of the sessions will no longer 'defeat the lawful purposes of the executive session."' See G. L. c. 30A, § 22(:1). In a March 20, 2018 telephone conversation, you informed a Public Records Division attorney that, on behalf of the Committee as its Legal Counsel, you would provide Mr. Spilman with a response to the renewed request for the executive session meeting minutes and other documents pertaining to the 2016 and 2017 executive session meetings held by the Committee. It is my understanding that a copy of the appeal was provided to assist the Committee in responding. Conclusion The Committee indicated that a response to the request will be provided to Mr. Spilman, in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations within ten (10) 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, ~u~ Supervisor of Records cc: Zachary Spilman Dr. Andrew W. Keough, Superintendent of Schools