Lisa Dobson v. Millbury, Town of - Public Schools (SPR 20213045)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records December 1, 2021 SPR21/3045 Kerri Sundeen Records Access Officer Millbury Public Schools 12 Martin Street Millbury, MA 01527 Dear Kerri Sundeen: I have received the petition of Lisa Dobson appealing the response of the Millbury 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 29, 2021, Ms. Dobson requested, “any paper or digital correspondence to and/or from and/or between individuals from the Millbury Public School District Central office occurring between August 19, 2021 and September 29, 2021” regarding any combination of a set of identified search terms. The School provided a response on October 7, 2021. Unsatisfied with that response, Ms. Dobson petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR21/3045, was opened as a result. 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 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); 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). To meet the specificity requirement a custodian must not only cite an exemption, but must also state why the exemption applies to the withheld or redacted portion of the responsive record. 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

Kerri Sundeen SPR21/3045 Page 2 December 1, 2021 The School’s October 7th Response On October 7, 2021, the School indicated it is in possession of 17 pages of responsive records. The School also noted “because the communication includes an email thread, some of these documents are redundant.” Current Appeal On November 17, 2021, Ms. Dobson stated, “while threads may be redundant, all threads…are necessary to ensure continuity of the conversations. The provided records only show a linear thread through specific threads. Each email should be provided with the corresponding thread as it is impossible to see offshoots without these threads. At one point, in one of these threads, a [named individual] responds to Superintendent Myers and provides advice on the makeup of his response…How and where [the named individual] came into the thread is omitted with no way to figure out how she was brought into the conversation. Also, at the head of each thread, it points out the number of messages within the thread, with one of the threads in the responsive records not matching the number of messages.” The School sent a supplemental email communication to Ms. Dobson on November 19, 2021 asserting, “there was mention that specific pages were not included in the thread of emails. After reviewing the documents that were sent to Ms. Dobson, I only see one discrepancy where the 3rd page of one of the email threads was not attached. Please see the scanned documents pertaining to this page missing.” In a subsequent phone call between the School and a member of the Public Records Division staff, the School reiterated that there were no missing messages or threads in its response. The School also clarified that the missing third page was counted towards the thread with the discrepancy that Ms. Dobson had mentioned. The School also stated that there are no additional records. No duty to create records Under the Public Records Law, the School is not required to create a record in response to a public records request. See G. L. c. 66, § 6A(d). 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). Conclusion In light of the above, I will consider this administrative appeal closed.

Kerri Sundeen SPR21/3045 Page 3 December 1, 2021 Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Lisa Dobson