Kevin Wood v. Georgetown, Town of - Public Schools (SPR 20181723)

l~l \ ' ' ' • • .. ·"" ~ The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor ofR ecords November 30, 2018 SPR18/1723 Supt. Carol Jacobs Office of the Superintendent Georgetown School Depmiment 51 North St. Georgetown, MA 01833 Dear Supt. Jacobs: I have received a petition from Kevin Wood appealing the response of the Town of Georgetown's Public Schools (School) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § lOA; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Originally, Jv!r. Wood sent a request to the School on October 18, 2018 requesting documents concerning the "Peer Mentoring Program." The School provided a response and met with Mr. Wood on October 30, 2018. In a follow-up email on November 1, 2018, Mr. Wood made another public records request for documents concerning the Peer Mentoring Program. The School made Mr. Wood aware in an email on November 13, 2018 that the documents he requested were available to be picked up. Mr. Wood made an appeal to this office on November 19, 2018 stating that "significant p01iions of [his] document request were missing without explanation or response." Appeal 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, § IO(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, § I O(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, § 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 recoi·d sought, if known. See G. L. c. 66, § 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, § 1O (b )(iv) (written response must "identify One Ashbmion Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 • (617) 727-2832• Fax: (617) 727-5914 sec.state.ma.us/pre • pre@sec.state.ma.us

Supt. Carol Jacobs SPR18/1723 Pg. 2 November 30, 2018 any records, categories of records or po1tions ofrecords 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 ... "); 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). It is unclear if the School possesses the records Mr. Wood claims are missing from his public records request. See G. L. c. 66, § lO(a)(ii), (b)(ii), (iii). The duty to comply with requests for records extends to those records that exist and are in the possession, custody, or control of the custodianofrecords at the time of the request. See G. L. c. 66, §· 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, § 1O (b) (iii). If the records are within the School's possession and they intend to withhold the documents an exemption must be provided as stated above. See G. L. c. 66, § 1O (b )(iv) (c ustodian has the burden of establishing the applicability of an exemption). Accordingly, the School is ordered to review the requests made by Mr. Wood and provide any requested records in accordance with the Public Records Law, its Access Regulations and this order within ten business days. A copy of any 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. Sincerely, Rebecca S. Munay Supervisor of Records cc: Kevin Wood