Paul Sullivan v. Weymouth, Town of - Public Schools (SPR 20180645)

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

Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records

May 18, 2018 SPR18/645

Dr. Jennifer Curtis- Whipple Superintendent

Weymouth Public Schools 111 Middle St.

Weymouth, MA 02189

Dear Dr. Curtis- Whipple:

I have received the petition of Paul Sullivan appealing the response of the Weymouth Public Schools (School) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, Mr. Sullivan is appealing the School’s March 15, 2018 fee estimate to his March 1, 2018 public records request. Mr. Sullivan believes he does not have to pay the fee because the School “did not properly administer [his] request in the time allowed by law.” Mr. Sullivan then sent an email to our office on May 7, 2018 saying he reduced the scope of his March 1 request by over 75% and asked for the materials based on an April 5, 2018 revised request to the School. Mr. Sullivan states he has not received a response to the revised request he provided to the School.

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, § 10(d)(iv).

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. Curtis- Whipple SPR18/645 Page 2 May 18, 2018

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.LR. 32.06(4).

Appeal

A records access officer (RAO) may not charge a fee unless the RAO provides a written response in 10 business days following the receipt of the request in compliance with G. L. c. 66, § 10(b). G. L. c. 66, § 10(e). An RAO may suggest a reasonable modification of the scope of the request or offer to assist the requestor to modify the scope of the request if doing so would enable the agency or municipality to produce records sought more efficiently and affordably. See G. L. c. 66, § 10(b)(vii). The School may not be permitted to charge fees associated with its March 1* request and revised fee estimate if the School did not provide a response to this request in compliance with this provision of the law. See G. L. c. 66, § 10(e); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.06(2)(c).

It is unclear whether the School complied with G. L. c. 66, § 10(e) and 950 C.M.R 32.06(2)(c). Therefore, I find the School must demonstrate whether it responded to the March 1* request and revised fee estimate within ten business days following receipt of the request in compliance with G. L. c. 66, § 10(e) and 950 C.M.R 32.06(2)(c).

Order

Accordingly, the School is ordered to review the requests made by Mr. Sullivan and provide a written response to Mr. Sullivan, made in accordance with the Public Records Law, its Access Regulations and this order within ten business days. This administrative appeal is now closed. 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. Rebecca S. Murray Abreca. Marian —

Supervisor of Records

Lucca

cc: Mr. Paul Sullivan