Grace Ferguson v. Rockland, Town of - Public Schools (SPR 20213195)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records December 21, 2021 SPR21/3195 Alan Cron Superintendent Town of Rockland Public Schools 34 MacKinlay Way Rockland, MA 02370 Dear Superintendent Cron: I have received the petition of Grace Ferguson, of the Daily Dot, appealing the nonresponse of the Town of Rockland (Town) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On September 15, 2021, Ms. Ferguson requested “[a]ny and all records, dating from April 1, 2021 to present, relating to [a] ransomware attack on Rockland Public Schools discovered in May, 2020. . . .” Claiming to not yet have received a response, Ms. Ferguson petitioned this office, and this appeal, SPR21/3195, was opened as a result. Under the Public Records Law and the Access Regulations (Regulations) all requests for public records must be met with a response within 10 business days from receipt of the request. G. L. c. 66, § 10(a)-(b). The response may contain, among other things, an offer to provide records, a fee estimate for provision of the records, or a denial. G. L. c. 66, § 10(b). All records custodians must comply with both the Public Records Law and the Regulations with respect to the timeliness of response. Despite being notified of the opening of this appeal, it is unclear if a response has been provided. Accordingly, the Town is ordered to provide Ms. Ferguson with a response to the request, provided in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations within 10 business days. A copy of the 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. 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

Superintendent Alan Cron SPR21/3195 Page 2 December 21, 2021 Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Grace Ferguson