Ronald Alexander v. Framingham, City of - Public Schools Department (SPR 20190750)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor ofR ecords April 16, 2019 SPR19/750 Amy Kane Records Access Officer Schools Department City of Framingham 150 Concord St. Framingham, MA O1 702 Dear Ms. Kane: I have received your petition on behalf of the City of Framingham's Public Schools (School) seeking relief from its obligation to produce responsive records. G. L. c. 66, § 10(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, § 10(c ). This petition relates to requests made by Ronald Alexander concerning email messages. 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

Ms. Amy Kane SPR19/0750 Page 2 April 16, 2019 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 petition dated April 5, 2019, you state that "the City of Framingham hereby petitions: (a) that the Supervisor grant relief from its obligation to provide the requested documents or, in the alternative (b) grant an extension of time of 30 business days following receipt of the Supervisor's decision on this Petition and payment of cost estimate to comply with the public records request." You further explain that "[bJ ased upon a preliminary investigation, the City estimates that there are approximately 325,000 emails responsive to Mr. Alexander's request. On April, 2019, the School RAO informed Mr. Alexander that that there were in excess of 300,000 emails responsive to his request and asked if he wished to narrow the scope of his request. He responded that he did not wish to do so." In an email on April 11, 2019 you confirm that "Mr. Alexander states that he seeks to narrow his original request." Based on Mr. Alexander's response and "[s]o long as Mr. Alexander's request in his email below is deemed a new request to which Framingham has 10 business days from date of receipt (4/9/2019) to respond to the new request, Framingham will withdraw its Petition for Relief." Conclusion Accordingly, I find that in light of the School's April 11th email to this offiee relating to Mr. Alexander's response, it is unnecessary to opine on the School's petition at this time. Sincerely, ~~ Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Ronald Alexander