Antonio E. Danielle v. South Hadley, Town of - Public Schools (SPR 20212763)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records November 4, 2021 SPR21/2763 Jahmal Mosley, Ph.D Superintendent of Schools Town of South Hadley Public Schools Town Hall 116 Main Street South Hadley, MA 01075 Dear Dr. Mosley: I have received the petition of Antonio E. Danielle appealing the response of the Town of South Hadley Public Schools (School) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On September 20, 2021, Mr. Danielle requested: “[a]ll email correspondence between [an identified person and identified email address] and [an identified person and identified email address] from December 2020 to present; and [a]ll email correspondence between [an identified person] with [an identified person and an identified email address] from December 2020 to present and all email correspondence between 3 parties together [three identified email addresses] from December 2020 to present.” On October 4, 2021, the School provided a response, then subsequently provided Mr. Danielle with the records. As a result of the production of records, Mr. Danielle petitioned the Supervisor of Records (Supervisor), and this appeal was opened. In his October 21, 2021 petition, Mr. Danielle indicates, “I was only given a small portion of what I requested. I did not receive any records of emails directly between [an identified person with an identified email address] and [an identified person with an identified email address] from December 2020 to present.” The Public Records Law The Public Records Law strongly favors disclosure by creating a presumption that all governmental records are public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A(d); 950 C.M.R. 32.03(4). “Public records” is broadly defined to include all documentary materials or data, regardless of physical 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. Jahmal Mosley SPR21/2763 Page 2 November 4, 2021 form or characteristics, made or received by any officer or employee of any town of the Commonwealth, unless falling within a statutory exemption. G. L. c. 4, § 7(26). It is the burden of the records custodian to demonstrate the application of an exemption in order to withhold a requested record. G. L. c. 66, § 10(b)(iv) (written response must “identify any records, categories of records or portions of records that the agency or municipality intends to withhold, and provide the specific reasons for such withholding, including the specific exemption or exemptions upon which the withholding is based…”); 950 C.M.R. 32.06(3); see also Dist. Attorney for the Norfolk Dist. v. Flatley, 419 Mass. 507, 511 (1995) (custodian has the burden of establishing the applicability of an exemption). Based on the School’s response and production of records, it is unclear if the School possesses additional records responsive to Mr. Danielle’s request. The duty to comply with requests for records extends to those records that exist and are in the possession, custody, or control of the custodian of records at the time of the request. See G. L. c. 66, § 10(a)(ii). The School must clarify this issue. Conclusion Accordingly, the School is ordered to provide Mr. Danielle with a response to the request, in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations within 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. Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Antonio E. Danielle