Ronald Alexander v. Natick, Town of - Public Schools (SPR 20182018)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor ofR ecords December 19, 2018 SPRlS/2018 Timothy Luff Assistant Superintendent Office of Student Services Natick Public Schools 13 East Central Street Natick, MA 01760 Dear Mr. Luff: I have received your petition on behalf of the Town ofNatick's Public Schools (School) seeking relief from its obligation to produce responsive records. G. L. c. 66, § lO(c); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4). As required by law, the School furnished a copy of this petition to the requestor. G. L. c. 66, § lO(c). This petition relates to requests made by Ronald Alexander for "raw responses to the Superintendent Survey that was conducted in the Fall of 2018 as part of the Superintendent search process." Petitions for an extension of time Under the Public Records Law, upon a showing of good cause, the Supervisor of Records (Supervisor) may grant a single extension to an agency not to exceed 20 business days and a single extension to a municipality not to exceed 30 business days. In determining whether there has been a showing of good cause, the Supervisor shall consider, but shall not be limited to considering: (i) the need to search for, collect, segregate or examine records; (ii) the scope of redaction required to prevent unlawful disclosure; (iii) the capacity or the normal business hours of operation of the agency or municipality to produce the request without the extension; (iv) efforts undertaken by the agency or municipality in fulfilling the current request and previous requests; (v) whether the request, either individually or as part of a series of requests from the same requestor, is frivolous or intended to harass or intimidate the agency or municipality; and (vi) the public interest served by expeditious disclosure. 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. Timothy Luff SPR18/2018 Page 2 December 19, 2018 G. L. c. 66, § lO(c). If the Supervisor determines that the request is part of a series of contemporaneous requests that are frivolous or designed to intimidate or harass, and the requests are not intended for the broad dissemination of information to the public about actual or alleged government activity, the Supervisor may grant a longer extension or relieve the agency or municipality of its obligation to provide copies of the records sought. Id. The filing of a petition does not affect the requirement that a Records Access Officer (RAO) shall provide an initial response to a requestor within ten business days after receipt of a request for public records. 950 C.M.R. 36.06(4)(b). Current petition In the School's December 12, 2018 petition it refers to a webpage created by Mr. Alexander that is "designed to intimidate and harass." The School notes that Mr. Alexander is "putting his own spin when posting these to the public, even with direct information in around detail in our response, I submit that this is not simple dissemination of records to the public. These statements are defamatory, untrue, even though he has the information to the contrary." The School lists a specific website where Mr. Alexander is posting the information. Mr. Alexander submitted a response to the School's petition on December 12, 2018. In this correspondence Mr. Alexander refutes the contention that his intention is to intimidate and harass. Mr. Alexander explains that his "requests are all for unique records, are non-repetitive, and are seeking records that are crucial to understanding the operation of the Natick town government." Based on the information provided in its petition, I find that the School has not met its burden to show how the requests posted to Mr. Alexander's website "are not intended for the broad dissemination of information to the public about actual or alleged government activity" in accordance with G. L. c. 66, § lO(c), particularly in light of the public nature of the records requested by Mr. Alexander. It should be noted that the School may submit a petition for additional time to produce public records under G. L. c. 66, § 10(c ). Conclusion As such, I find that the School has not met the criteria established by the Legislature in G. L. c. 66, § 1O B that allow for relief of the obligation to respond to requests for public records due to intimidation or harassment.

Mr. Timothy Luff SPR18/2018 Page 3 December 19, 2018 Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Ronald Alexander