Paul Sullivan v. Framingham, City of - Public Schools Department (SPR 20190661)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor ofR ecords April 10, 2019 SPR19/0661 Ms. Amy Kane Framingham Public Schools Department 73 Mt. Wayte A venue Suite #5 Framingham, MA O1 702 Dear Ms. Kane: I have received the petition of Mr. Paul Sullivan appealing the response of the Framingham Public Schools Department (Department) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § lOA; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, Mr. Sullivan requested "the results and communications between school department employees and the accounting firm of Melanson Heath" ... regarding the "student activity account audit [that] was completed on August 10th, 2015." Mr. Sullivan stated: "at a minimum, I should have received a copy of this audit. I should have also received an invoice and communications between the school officials providing documents from the end of the school year (June 30th, 2015) until the audit was complete and then provided to the district." Previous Appeals This request was the subject of previous appeals. See SPR19/0561 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (March 27, 2019). I closed SPR19/0561 by stating that the Department had provided Mr. Sullivan with the responsive records. The Public Records Law The Public Records Law strongly favors disclosure by creating a presumption that all governmental records are public records. G. L. c. 66, § lOA(d); 950 C.M.R. 32.03(4). "Public records" is broadly defined to include all documentary materials or data, regardless of physical form or characteristics, made or received by any officer or employee of any town of the Commonwealth, unless falling within a statutory exemption. G. L. c. 4, § 7(26). 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); 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 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

Ms. Amy Kane SPR19/0661 Page 2 April 10, 2019 establishing the applicability of an exemption). To meet the specificity requirement a custodian must not only cite an exemption, but must also state why the exemption applies to the withheld or redacted portion of the responsive record. If there are any fees associated with a response a written, good faith estimate must be provided. G. L. c. 66, § 1 O(b )(viii); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.07(2). Once fees are paid, a records custodian must provide the responsive records. Under the Public Records Law, the Department is not required to create a record in response to a public records request. See G. L. c. 66, § 6A(d). 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 ofrecords at the time of the request. See G. L. c. 66, § lO(a)(ii). Current Appeal Following the March 27th determination, Mr. Sullivan responded on March 27, 2019, claiming to have been "provided three blank documents." Subsequent communications revealed that the documents Mr. Sullivan was requesting were three forms titled "Internal Control Questionnaire - WMS," "internal Control Questionnaire -FHS," and "Student Activity Fund List of Items Needed." Further communications revealed he was requesting the completed versions of these forms. It is unclear whether the Department possesses the requested completed forms. Order Accordingly, the Department is ordered to provide Mr. Sullivan with a response to the request, provided in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law, and it's Regulations without delay. 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. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Mr. Paul Sullivan