Maureen Ronayne v. Wayland, Town of - Public Schools (SPR 20212260)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records September 20, 2021 SPR21/2260 Parry Graham, Ed.D. Records Access Officer Wayland Public Schools 41 Cochituate Road Wayland, MA 01778 Dear Dr. Graham: I have received the petition of Maureen Ronayne appealing the response of the Wayland Public Schools (School) to her request for public records. G. L. c. 66, §10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On August 22, 2021, Ms. Ronayne requested the following records: [1] …core reading curriculum the district uses as well as the reading intervention used in tier 2 and 3. [2] How many students are in response to intervention for reading support for the past 3 years? Also, is there any data/emails/text messages on how long students stay in RTI? [3] all correspondence that mentions “dyslexia” between the Sepac and anyone that works for the district since July 1, 2020 … [4] how many students with dyslexia/sld were identified in the district for the past 3 years by grade level. The School responded on September 2, 2021. Unsatisfied with the response, Ms. Ronayne appealed and SPR21/2260 was opened as a result. Fees -Municipalities If there are any fees associated with a response a written, good faith estimate must be · provided. G. L. c. 66, § 10(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 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, § 10(d)(i). 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

Dr. Parry Graham SPR21/2260 Page 2 September 20, 2021 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 less. G. L. c. 66, § 10(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 how if such rate is approved by the Supervisor of Records under a petition under G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv). 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 of Records under a petition under G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv). See G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iii); 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4). Petitions relating to fees must be submitted to the Supervisor within ten business days after receipt of a request for public records. 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4)(g). The School’s September 2nd Fee Estimate In its September 2nd response, the School provided a fee estimate of $50.00. The School states that, “[t]he District estimates that your … requested documents total approximately 60 pages [and] … that it will take less than one hour (200 pages per hour) to search for responsive documents, and 2 hours (30 pages per hour) to segregate and redact these documents. The District thus estimates the fee for compliance with your request to be $50.” The fee summary is set forth as follows: 60 pages of documents Document search - <1 hr @ $25/hr = $0 (200 pp/hr) Document segregation and redaction - 2 hr @ $25/hr = $50 (30pp/hr) The District estimates that your above requested documents total $50 Although the School has estimated that the process of compiling, reviewing, and preparing responsive documents for production will take 2 hours of employee time, it is unclear how the School requires 2 hours to produce responsive records. Additionally, I find the School must provide information about whether the responsive records contain information that that is required by law to be segregated or redacted, as well as the applicable statutes, if any. Particularly, it is not clear what tasks are involved to prepare responsive records for production. As such, the School must provide further details regarding its fee estimate. See G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv) (requiring the amount of the fee be reasonable). Further, the School’s fee estimate lacks confirmation that the rate of $25 per hour is of the lowest paid employee who is capable of performing the task(s).

Dr. Parry Graham SPR21/2260 Page 3 September 20, 2021 For the reasons discussed above, the School must revise its fee estimate or provide further explanation of how the $50 fee assessed in its September 2nd estimate is consistent with G. L. c. 66, § 10(d). Conclusion Accordingly, the School is ordered to provide Ms. Ronayne with a response to the request, provided in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations within ten 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. Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Maureen Ronayne