Chrissy Ryan v. Amherst Regional Public Schools (SPR 20192503)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records January 3, 2020 SPR 19/2503 Debbie Westmoreland Director of Communications and Operations Amherst-Pelham Regional Public Schools 170 Chestnut Street Amherst, MA O1 002 Dear Ms. Westmoreland: I have received the petition of Chrissy Ryan appealing the response of the Amherst Pelham Regional School District (District) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § lOA; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, Ms. Ryan requested certain information relating to orders from Amazon.com. The District responded to Ms. Ryan with a fee estimate on September 16, 2019 for the provision of purchase orders containing the requested information for the identified time period. The District provided a fee estimate for the time to produce the purchase orders, estimating that it would take 30 hours, for a cost of $700. Prior Appeal The requested records were the subject of a prior appeal. See SPR 19/2177 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (November 5, 2019). I closed SPR 19/2177 by ordering the District to provide futiher information regarding its fee estimate. The District provided a supplemental response on November 8, 2019, further explaining the basis for its September 16th estimate. Unsatisfied with this response Ms. Ryan petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR 19/2503, was opened as a result. Fee Estimates If there are any fees associated with a response a written, good faith estimate must be provided. G. L. c. 66, § lO(b)(viii); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.07(2). Once fees are paid, a records custodian must provide the responsive records. A municipality may assess a reasonable fee for the production of a public record except 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. Debbie Westmoreland SPR19/2503 Page 2 January 3, 2020 those records that are freely available for public inspection. G. L. c. 66, § 10( d). The fees must reflect the actual cost of complying with a particular request. Id. A maximum fee of five cents ($.05) per page may be assessed for a black and white single or double-sided photocopy of a public record. G. L. c. 66, § lO(d)(i). Municipalities may not assess a fee for the first two (2) hours of employee time to search for, compile, segregate, redact or reproduce the record or records requested unless the municipality has 20,000 people or fewer. G. L. c. 66, § lO(d)(iii). Where appropriate, municipalities may include as part of the fee an hourly rate equal to or less than the hourly rate attributed to the lowest paid employee who has the necessary skill required to search for, compile, segregate, redact or reproduce a record requested, but the fee shall not be more than $25 per hour. Id. However, municipalities may charge more than $25 per hour if such rate is approved by the Supervisor under a petition under G. L. c. 66, § lO(d)(iv). The District's Fee Estimate In its September 20111 response, the District stated that "[t]he time estimated to copy and prepare all amazon purchase orders is 30 hours based on approximately 200 amazon P.O.s per year for three years at three minutes per record." The District provided further information in its November 8111 response, estimating "that it would take approximately three minutes per record to locate, segregate and copy the purchase order followed up by scanning the segregated records into an electronic format." · The Public Records Law provides that in cases where necessary to reproduce the requested records a records access officer may charge a fee to search for, compile, segregate, redact or reproduce a requested record based on the hourly rate of the lowest paid employee who is capable of performing the tclsk. G. L. c. 66, § lO(d); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.07(2). The reasonable fee for reproduction shall not exceed the actual cost of reproducing the record. Id. The District may permissibly charge for time spent searching for and reproducing the requested records. However, while the District has provided some additional information, it remains unclear how it reached the estimate of 3 minutes per record and whether the District is assessing time for segregation and redaction. See G. L. c. 66, § lO(d)(iii); 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4) ( a fee shall not be assessed for time spent segregating or redacting records unless such segregation or redaction is required by law or approved by the Supervisor under a petition under G. L. c. 66, § lO(d)(iv)). The District must fmiher clarify this matter. Conclusion Accordingly, the District is ordered to provide Ms. Ryan a response in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law, and its Regulations within ten ( 10) 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.

Ms. Debbie Westmoreland SPR19/2503 Page 3 January 3, 2020 Further, the District noted in its September 16th response that Ms. Ryan "may reduce the cost by revising [her] request." This office continues to encourage Ms. Ryan and the District to communicate to facilitate providing records more efficiently and affordably. See G. L. c. 66, § lO(b)(vii) (a municipality shall suggest a reasonable modification of the scope of the request or offer to assist the requestor to modify the scope of the request if doing so would enable the municipality to produce the records sought more efficiently and affordably). Sincerely, ~~ Supervisor of Records cc: Chrissy Ryan