Ronald Alexander v. Framingham, City of - Public Schools Department (SPR 20181589)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records November 13, 2018 SPRlS/1589 Joanna Hastry City of Framingham Public Schools 150 Concord Street Framingham, MA 01702 Dear Ms. Hastry: I have received the petition of Ronald Alexander appealing the response of the City of Framingham Public Schools (School) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § lOA; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, in his September 6, 2018 letter, Mr. Alexander requested to inspect "all minutes created for or during all Open and Executive meetings of the Framingham School Committee and any and all of its sub-committees when the 'Saviatto v. Framingham Public Schools' matter was discussed, as referenced in the attached minutes." In his petition, Mr. Alexander indicates his objection to receiving redacted executive session meeting minutes, that the School did not prove with specificity the exemption(s), and that the records were not provided in electronic and searchable, machine-readable format. As a result, this appeal was opened. The School's September 19 and October 4, 2018 responses In the School's September 19th response, Mr. Alexander was informed, "[t]here are no responsive documents from open session meetings as this topic was not listed on any open session agendas. There are Executive Session minutes. Pursuant to MGL c. 30A, 22(g)(2)." Accompanying its October 4th response, the School provided the executive session meeting minutes in redacted format. The School's October 4th response states, "[t]he redacted Executive Session minutes from these documents memorialize deliberations among committee members regarding discussion with counsel about these matters, which are attorney-client privileged communications and are protected from disclosure under Suffolk Construction v. DCAM, 449 Mass. 444 (2007). Such portions of the minutes therefore are being redacted and withheld, and may be continue to be withheld even after the minutes may otherwise be approved for release. See G. L. c. 30A, s. 22(f)." 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

Joanna Hastry SPR18/1589 Page 2 November 13, 2018 Open Meeting Law Mr. Alexander's appeal is related to the release of executive session meeting minutes in redacted format which raises issues that potentially invoke the Open Meeting Law (OML). Given that an interpretation of the OML falls within the authority of the Office of the Attorney General (AGO) and not this office, I decline to provide a determination as to the content of the executive session minutes. See G. L. c. 30A, § 23. Sincerely, ~ Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Ronald Alexander (via email) Christopher L. Brown, Esq., Petrini & Associates, P. C.