Corey Spaulding v. Medway, Town of - Public Schools (SPR 20200575)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records March 30, 2020 SPR20/0575 Donald Aicardi Records Access Officer Director of Finance and Operations Medway Public Schools 45 Holliston Street Medway, MA 02053 Dear Mr. Aicardi: I have received your petition on behalf of the Medway Public Schools (School) seeking an extension of time to furnish copies of a requested record, or any portion thereof. 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. Specifically, on March 10, 2020, Ms. Spaulding requested “to view the financial records for 2017/18 acceptance of grants, bank statements, canceled checks,etc in regards to all grants: federal, state and private accepted by Medway school committee.” 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

Donald Aicardi SPR20/0575 Page 2 March 30, 2020 G. L. c. 66 § 10(c). 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). Please note, a business day does not include a weekday where a custodian’s office is unexpectedly closed. 950 C.M.R. 32.02. Current petition In its March 23, 2020, petition, the School requests “an extension of time to respond to a public records request” The School indicates “[a]s a result of the novel coronavirus outbreak that has caused the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, we are unable to respond to Ms. Spaulding’s request within the time period set forth in the Public Records Law. In particular, in accordance with the Governor’s orders and guidance from the CDC, the District’s offices are closed through at least April 6, 2020. All employees who are working are working remotely, with only a few personnel authorize to enter the building and then only sporadically and only for brief, emergent purposes. Without being physically present in the office, staff members are unable to assist in compiling the documents necessary to respond to a public records request.” The School explains “[a]fter conducting an initial review of this request, I realize that it will require extended, rather than sporadic, presence in the school building in order to access the applicable records and to search for, review and produce the District’s financial records from two to three years ago…[w]e anticipate that it will require at least ten (10) additional hours of time to provide a full response due to the scope of the request and the difficulty in responding as a result of our statewide emergency… [s]pecifically, this time will be required to search records regarding the grant that Ms. Spaulding has referenced, bank account records, and bank statements over the past three years to trace the grant funds. Due to the unique circumstances caused by this public health crisis, currently our office simply does not have the staff, time, or resources available to respond to this public records request. “ I find that in light of the need to search for and review the request, and the capacity of the School to produce the request without the extension, the School has established good cause to permit an extension of time. G. L. c. 66, § 10(c)(i)-(ii). I hereby grant the School an extension of 30 business days beyond the time allowed in G. L. c. 66, § 10(b)(vi). Conclusion For the reasons discussed above, the School is granted an extension of 30 business days to produce responsive records. The records must be provided consistent with the Public Records Law and its Access Regulations and as soon as practicable. The requestor may appeal the substantive nature of the School’s response within ninety days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). --

Donald Aicardi SPR20/0575 Page 3 March 30, 2020 Additionally, the requestor may seek judicial review of this decision by commencing a civil action in the superior court under G. L. c. 66, § 10A(c). Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Corey Spaulding