Linda Phillips v. Reading Public Schools (SPR 20181095)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records August 7,2018 SPR1811095 Gail S. Dowd Director of Finance and Operations Reading Public Schools 82 Oakland Road Reading, MA 0 18 67 Dear Ms. Dowd: I have received a petition from Linda Phillips appealing the response from the Reading Public Schools (Schools) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, 5 IOA; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Ms. Phillips made a public records request on June 19,2018 to the School requesting "a copy of a payroll run for all School Department employees, preferably the last of the school/fiscal year." The School provided a response on June 19,2018 citing Exemption (0) for the withholding of documents. The School then provided Ms. Phillips a payroll run for the recent School year on Julyl3,2018 again citing Exemption (0) for the withholding of home addresses. Ms. Phillips appealed the School's response to this office on July 23,201 8. 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, 5 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, 5 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, 5 10(b)(iv); 950 C.M.R. 32.06(3); see also Dist. Attorney for the Norfolk Dist. v. Flatley, 419 Mass. 507, 5 11 (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. G. L. c. 66, 5 lO(b)(iv). One Ashburton Place, Room 171 9, Boston, Massachusetts 02 108 * (6 17) 727-2832. Fax: (61 7) 727-59 14 sec.state.ma.us/pre * pre@sec.state.ma.us

Ms. Gail S. Dowd Page 2 August 7,201 8 Exemption (0) Exemption (0) permits the withholding of the home address, personal email address and home telephone number of an employee of the judicial branch, an unelected employee of the general court, an agency, executive office, department, board, commission, bureau, division or authority of the commonwealth, or of a political subdivision thereof or of an authority established by the general court to serve a public purpose, in the custody of a government agency which maintains records identifying persons as falling within those categories; provided that the information may be disclosed to an employee organization under chapter 150E, a nonprofit organization for retired public employees under chapter 180, or a criminal justice agency as defined in section 167 of chapter 6. Appeal Pursuant to the Public Records Law, the burden shall be upon the records custodian to establish the applicability of an exemption. G. L. c. 66, 5 lO(b)(iv) (written response must "identify any records, categories of records or portions of records that the agency or municipality intends to withhold, and provide the specific reasons for such withholding, including the specific exemption or exemptions upon which the withholding is based . . ."); see also Globe Newspaper Co. v. Police Comrn'r, 419 Mass. 852, 857 (1995); Flatlev, 419 Mass. at 511. The School did not meet its burden to provide the specific reasons for withholding the records in their entirety pursuant to Exemption (0). See G. L. c. 66, $ 10(b)(iv); Reinstein v. Police Cornm'r of Boston, 378 Mass. 281,289-90 (1979) (the statutory exemptions are narrowly construed and are not blanket in nature). Any non-exempt, segregable portion of a public record is subject to mandatory disclosure. G. L. c. 66, § 10(a). In particular it is not clear the meaning of the School's July 1 3re~sp~ons e to Ms. Phillips concerning the "home address, including town of residence." The School does not explain the reasoning for using Exemption (0) when Ms. Phillips asks for the "town of residence" in the addresses. 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 of records at the time of the request. See G. L. c. 66, $ 10(a)(ii), (b)(ii). Conclusion Accordingly, the School is ordered to review the requested records and produce responsive records in its possession in a manner consistent with this determination, the Public Record Law, and its Regulation within ten business days. A copy of 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.

Ms. Gail S. Dowd Page 3 August 7,2018 Sincerely, V Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Linda Phillips