Paul Sullivan v. Wellesley, Town of - Public Schools (SPR 20181282)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records September 10,2018 SPRl811282 Cynthia D. Mahr, SF0 Assistant Superintendent for Finance and Operations Wellesley Public Schools 40 Kingsbury Street Wellesley, MA 0248 1 Dear Ms. Mahr: I have received the petition from Paul Sullivan appealing the response of the Wellesley Public Schools (School) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, fj 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Mr. Sullivan made a public records request on August 13,2018 to the School for "audit of the student activity accounts." The School provided Mr. Sullivan with a response on August 14,2018. In response to the School's August 14" email, Mr. Sullivan appealed to this office on August 24,2018 requesting "internal audits." Public Records Law Under the Public Records Law and the Access Regulations (Regulations) all requests for public records must be met with a response within ten business days of receipt of the request. G. L. c. 66, 5 10(a)-(b). The response may contain, among other things, an offer to provide records, a fee estimate for provision of the records, or a denial. G. L. c. 66, 5 lO(b). All records custodians must comply with both the Public Records Law and the Regulations with respect to the timeliness of response. 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, 5 lO(a)(ii), (b)(ii). Also, the duty to comply with requests for records extends to identifying the agency or municipality that may be in possession, custody, or control of the public record sought, if known. See G. L. c. 66, 5 lO(b)(iii). 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) (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 see exemption or exemptions upon which the withholding is based.. ."); 950 C.M.R. 32.06(3); also Dist. Attorney for the Norfolk Dist. v. Flatley, 419 Mass. 507, 51 1 (1995) (custodian has the 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, SF0 Page 2 September 10,201 8 burden of establishing the applicability of an exemption) Appeal The School provided a supplemental response to Mr. Sullivan via email on September 6, 201 8. The School stated in its September 6"' email that it performed a search yet did not locate any responsive records. The School stated "[nlo internal audit report was ever written or produced." Under the Public Records Law, the School is not required to create a record in response to a public records request. See G. L. c. 66, 5 6A(d). T& 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, 5 10(a)(ii), (b)(ii). If Mr. Sullivan still believes that there are records in the School's possession related to his requests, he should provide the School with a more detailed description of the records he wishes to obtain. See G. L. c. 66, 5 lO(a)(i). Conclusion Based on the School's September 6thr esponse, I find the School has met its burden in responding to this request. See G. L. c. 66, 5 10(b)(ii)-(iii). Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Paul Sullivan