Ben Douglas v. Lynn, City of - Public Schools (SPR 20202365)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records December 14, 2020 SPR20/2365 Charles Gallo, Compliance Officer Records Access Officer (RAO) Lynn Public Schools 100 Bennett Street Lynn, MA 01905 Dear Mr. Gallo: I have received the petition of Benjamin Douglas appealing the fee estimate from the Lynn School Department (Department) in response to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On November 16, 2020, Mr. Douglas requested, “emails that were sent or received by lorraine.gatelyschoolcommittee@gmail.com from October 21, 2020 to October 28, 2020 that are related to the School Council Meeting for Lynn Classical High School that was held on October 21, 2020.” Previous appeals In my November 16th determination I found that Mr. Douglas had engaged in a lack of good faith. See SPR20/2115; SPR20/2181; SPR20/2193, and SPR20/2218 Supervisor of Records Determination (November 16, 2020). Subsequent to this finding, Mr. Douglas has filed this additional appeal involving the Department to the Supervisor of Records. Recent appeals The Department has advised that since June 18, 2020, the Department has received numerous requests from someone using the following aliases: • “Ben Douglas/Benjamin Douglas (individually, no affiliation listed) • Ben Douglas of the National Association for Teaching Optimization (NATO), • Ben Douglas of the Institute for Education Metrics and Evaluation (IEME), • George Adams uses same contact information as Ben Douglas individually, • Anonymous request (with no name provided) with same email at George Adams, • Juan Jefferson using an address which is the same address as Lynn Classical High School.” 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

Charles Gallo SPR20/2365 Page 2 December 14, 2020 The Department further states: • “…[t]he Requestor’s requests have been made in bad faith in order to overwhelm LPS staff, including the Principal of Lynn Classical High School, LPS’s Human Resources Department, LPS’s IT Department and computer staff, LPS’s RAO, and various other LPS staff … • Responding to the Requestor unduly burdens the responsibilities of LPS at the present time … • This burden is exacerbated because the Requestor’s requests are frequent… • The Requestor explains on page 2 of [the] October 11th email … that he makes requests in order to ‘play a little joke’ on the RAO, evidently designing his requests in order to intimidate and harass, not for the broad dissemination of information to the public about actual or alleged government activity. • The Requestor further explains on page 2 of [the] October 11th email… that he makes [requests] because he knows that “the Lynn Public Schools and Mr. Gallo (RAO) would go ballistic,” evidently designing his requests in order to intimidate and harass…” Moreover, the Department asserts that the requestor duplicates requests and requests information and documentation that has already been provided by the Department, as well as corresponds argumentatively and inappropriately with the RAO. Current Appeal In its November 24, 2020 response, the Department stated, Mr. Douglas “… has submitted seven separate requests regarding emails sent or received by Superintendent Patrick Tutwiler, Lynn Classical High School Principal Amy Dunn, and members of the Lynn School Committee ...” Lack of good faith 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2)(b) provides in pertinent part: The Supervisor of Records may deny an appeal for, among other reasons if, in the opinion of the Supervisor: the request is designed or intended to harass [or] intimidate …. 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2)(b)(2). Conclusion Given this requestor’s ongoing pattern of acting without good faith, I deny this appeal. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2)(b)(2); see also G. L. c. 66, § 10(c). The requestor is advised that this ----- office shares jurisdiction with the Superior Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. See G. L. c. 66, § 10A(c).

Charles Gallo SPR20/2365 Page 3 December 14, 2020 Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Ben Douglas