Joseph Smith v. Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (SPR 20213164)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records December 17, 2021 SPR21/3164 Helene Bettencourt Associate Commissioner Commissioner’s Office Department of Elementary and Secondary Education 75 Pleasant Street Malden, MA 02148 Dear Ms. Bettencourt: I have received the petition of Joseph Smith appealing the response of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (Department) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On June 3, 2021, Mr. Smith requested, “ … all email communications with all those affiliated with the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, whose email addresses will generally end in ‘@hsph.harvard.edu’ or ‘@forhealth.org’ … [including named persons] … from November 1st 2020 until the date of this request.” Subsequently, on September 11, 2021, Mr. Smith modified his request as follows: “…all email communications made to or from [named person] … that name or refer to [named persons] … from 03/01/2020 up until and including the date of this request (09/11/2021).” Previous appeals This request was the subject of previous appeals. See SPR21/1519 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (July 1, 2021); SPR21/2337 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (September 22, 2021) and SPR21/2535 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (October 15, 2021. The Department responded on October 29, 2021. Unsatisfied with the response, Mr. Smith petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR21/3164, was opened as a result. Based upon a communication between a Public Records Division staff attorney and a Department representative, it is my understanding that the Department intends on providing a subsequent response to Mr. Smith. Accordingly, the Department is ordered to provide Mr. Smith with a response to the request in a manner consistent with the Public Records Law and its Access Regulations within ten business days. It is preferable to send an electronic copy of this response to this office at 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

Helene Bettencourt SPR21/3164 Page 2 December 17, 2021 pre@sec.state.ma.us. Mr. Smith may appeal the substantive nature of the Department's response within ninety days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Joseph Smith