Alison Rosa v. Southeastern Regional Vocational Technical High School (SPR 20191200)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor ofR ecords June 24, 2019 SPR19/1200 Holly McClanan Executive Director of Human Resources Southeastern Regional School District 250 Foundry Street, Route 106 South Easton, MA 02375 Dear Ms. McClanan: I have received your petition on behalf of the Southeastern Regional School District (School) seeking an extension of time to furnish copies of a requested record, or any portion thereof. G. L. c. 66, § lO(c). As required by law, the School furnished a copy of this petition to the requestor. Id. Specifically, on June 4, 2019, Alison Rosa requested all emailed related to her. 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. G. L. c. 66, § lO(c). 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

Holly McClanan SPR19/1200 Page 2 June 24, 2019 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 June 17, 2019 the School requests "an extension to July 22, 2019." The School explains "[a] search by our IT department returned over 4,000 emails." The School explains the extension is necessary due to the volume of documents that require review because they may contain non-public information about students and or other staff members as well as scheduled personnel absences during this time period. The School also asserts "the records are in an 'Outlook' email format that may not be accessible to the former employee if she does not have an Outlook reader. Therefore, each one will need to be converted to a PDF." The School indicates "I responded in writing to the former employee acknowledging her request .. .I asked her to voluntarily extend the deadline for compliance to July 22, 2019 ... we have heard nothing from her since." I find that in light of the capacity and normal business hours of the School, and the need to redact the requested records, the School has established good cause to permit an extension of time. G. L. c. 66 § lO(c)(i)-(iv). Conclusion For the reasons discussed above, the School is granted an extension to produce responsive records. The records must be provided by July 22, 2019 consistent with the Public Records Law and its Access Regulations. The requestor may appeal the substantive nature of the School's response within ninety days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Additionally, the requestor may seek judicial review of this decision by commencing a civil action in the superior court under G. L. c. 66, § lOA(c). Sincerely, ~ u r r ~ Supervisor of Records cc: Alison Rosa