Gerry Mroz v. Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (SPR 20210002)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records January 19, 2021 SPR21/0002 Matthew J. Deninger, M.Ed. Acting Chief Strategy and Research Officer Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education 75 Pleasant Street Malden, MA 02148 Dear Dr. Deninger: I have received the petition of Gerry Mroz appealing the nonresponse of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (Department) to his request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On August 21, 2020, Mr. Mroz requested “copies of documents held by the Department containing research reports, internal memos and communications within the Department regarding the education of gifted and talented children, gifted and talented policy, or gifted and talented education, generally, during the two year period from August 22, 2018 through August 21, 2020, whether produced within the Department, or received from others.” The Department provided responsive records on September 30, 2020, and October 3, 2020. On October 5, 2020, Mr. Mroz contacted the Department and clarified that he was “seeking records that are more policy-related, not simply administrative process ones.” Subsequent to this clarification on October 5th, there have been several communications between the Department and Mr. Mroz, including a phone conference on November 18th in which the parties discussed search terms. On December 7, 2020, Mr. Mroz requested “to be provided the index of the search results obtained from the IT Dept.’s search of specific terms.” The Department provided two responses, the latest being December 18, 2020, indicating the number of search results, but did not provide an index. Unsatisfied with the Department’s response, Mr. Mroz petitioned this office, and appeal SPR21/0002, was opened as a result. Subsequent to the opening of this appeal, a staff attorney of the Public Records Division contacted the Department regarding Mr. Mroz’s appeal. The Department indicated in an email dated January 15, 2020, “[w]e have recently acquired the ‘index of emails’ described in the email chain attached to this appeal. We will provide it.” The Department further indicated “DESE will 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

Matthew J. Deninger, M.Ed SPR21/0002 Page 2 January 19, 2021 continue to work with Mr. Mroz to receive the records he wishes to review…” Accordingly, said response shall be made in accordance with the Public Records Law, its Access Regulations and this order within 10 business days. It is preferable to send an electronic copy of each response to this to this office at pre@sec.state.ma.us. Mr. Mroz may appeal the substantive nature of the Department’s responses within ninety days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Gerry Mroz Josh Varon, Esq.