Paul Sullivan v. Framingham, City of - Public Schools Department (SPR 20180326)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor ofR ecords March 28, 2018 SPRlS/326 Nancy Piasecki Executive Director of the Office of the Superintendent Framingham Public Schools 73 Mt. Wayte Ave., Suite 5 Framingham, MA 01702 Dear Ms. Piasecki: I have received the petition of Paul Sullivan appealing the response of the Framingham Public Schools (School) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § lOA; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, Mr. Sullivan sent an email on March 14, 2018 appealing the School's response based on the School's March 5, 2018 fee estimate, which was a follow-up to the January 8, 2018 cost estimate. 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, § 10(d ). 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 black and white copies for both single and double-sided copies 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, § lO(d)(iv). r 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). 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

Ms. Nancy Piasecki SPR18/326 Page2 March 28, 2018 Appeal The School's March 5th fee estimate total cost was $225.00 for a "breakdown of all female and male sports participants at Framingham High School." The School explains that the "District estimates your request will take approximately 11 hours, less 2 hours not assessed per 950 CMR 32.07 (2)(m), for a net total of 9 hours." Mr. Sullivan requested in his March 14th email clarification on how the School came to the total. The School must provide a more detailed -------- ---ree estimare-exphnntng how tnetotalwas aetermined, in accordance wttlrtnef>uDlic Records Law and its Regulations. See G. L. c. 66, § lO(d)(i). Order Accordingly, the School is ordered to provide Mr. Sullivan with a revised fee estimate in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations within ten 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: Mr. Paul Sullivan