Paul Sullivan v. Braintree, Town of - Public Schools (SPR 20181584)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor ofR ecords November 14, 2018 SPRlS/1584 Mr. James Lee Assistant Superintendent of Schools Town of Braintree- Public Schools 348 Pond Street Braintree, MA 02184 Dear Mr. Lee: I have received the petition of Paul Sullivan appealing the response of the Braintree 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, Mr S111livao made a public records request on September 22, 2018 in search of emails by the School's Athletic Director. The School provided a fee estimate on October 9, 2018 to Mr. Sullivan. Mr. Sullivan appealed the School's response to this office via email on October 30, 2018. 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, § lO(d). The fees must reflect the actual cost of co nip lying With a particttlaneqliest: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

Mr. James Lee SPR18/1584 Page2 November 14, 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, § lO(d)(iv). See G. L. c. 66, § lO(d)(iii); 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4). Appeal Mr. Sullivan contends "[t]he response time exceeded the allowable 10 days from the date of my request. I do not agree a fee is allowable." A records access officer (RAO) may not charge a fee unless the RAO provides a written response is provided in 10 business days following the receipt of the request in compliance with G. L. c. 66, § lO(b). G. L. c. 66, § lO(e). Mr. Sullivan's public records request to the School was sent on September 22nd which was a Saturday. The School provided Mr. Sullivan with a fee estimate to his request on October 9, 2018 which was a response within the required 10 business days .See G. L. c. 66, § lO(e); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.06(2)(C ). Conclusion I find the School has demonstrated that they responded to Mr. Sullivan's public records request within ten business days in compliance with G. L. c. 66, § 10(e ) and 950 C.M.R 32.06(2)( C) . Sincerely, fJ;wA~ Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Mr. Paul Sullivan