Corey Spaulding v. Wellesley Public Schools (SPR 20181090)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records August 1, 2018 SPRlS/1090 Cynthia D. Mahr, SFO Assistant Superintendent for Finance and Operations Wellesley Public Schools 40 Kingsbury Street Wellesley, MA 02481 Dear Ms. Mahr: I have received the petition of Corey Spaulding appealing the response of the Wellesley Public Schools (School) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 1 OA; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, Ms. Spaulding requested an appointment to inspect financial papers and documents at the School on July 14, 2018. The School responded to Ms. Spaulding on July 15, 2018 stating the request should be made in the form of an open records request. Ms. Spaulding appealed the School's response on July 21, 2018 to this office. The Public Records Law The Public Records Law strongly favors disclosure by creating a presumption that all governmental records are public records. G. L. c. 66, § lOA(d); 950 C.M.R. 32.03(4). "Public records" is broadly defined to include all documentary materials or data, regardless of physical form or characteristics, made or received by any officer or employee of any town of the Commonwealth, unless falling within a statutory exemption. G. L. c. 4, § 7(26). It is the burden of the records custodian to demonstrate the application of an exemption in order to withhold a requested record. G. L. c. 66, § 1O (b )(iv); 950 C.M.R. 32.06(3); see also Dist. Attorney for the Norfolk Dist. v. Flatley, 419 Mass. 507, 511 (1995) (custodian has the burden of establishing the applicability of an exemption). To meet the specificity requirement a custodian must not only cite an exemption, but must also state why the exemption applies to the withheld or redacted portion of the responsive record. 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

Cynthia D. Mahr, SFO SPR18/1090 Page 2 August 1, 2018 Conclusion This office encourages the School and Ms. Spaulding to communicate further to enable the School to provide requested public records. G. L. c 66, § lO(a)(i) (the request must reasonably describe the public record sought). The duty to comply with requests for records extends to those records that exist and are in the possession, custody, or control of the custodian ofrecords at the time of the request. See G. L. c. 66, § lO(a)(ii). The School must explain whether it possesses any other responsive records and use its knowledge of the records to facilitate providing any additional responsive records. G. L. c. 66, § 1O (b )(vii) (a municipality shall 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 municipality to produce records sought more efficiently and affordably). The School sent an email to Ms. Spaulding on July 30, 2018 informing her that she is "welcome to make an appointment to review our budget document." If unresolved issues remain, Ms. Spaulding may appeal the substantive nature of the School's response within ninety days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Ms. Corey Spaulding