Commonwealth Transparency v. North Brookfield, Town of - Public Schools (SPR 20213247)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records December 28, 2021 SPR21/3247 Richard Lind Superintendent North Brookfield Public Schools 10 New School Drive North Brookfield, MA 01535 Dear Superintendent Lind: I have received the petition of Commonwealth Transparency appealing the nonresponse of the North Brookfield Public Schools (School) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On October 13, 2021, Commonwealth Transparency requested: 1. Any and all public records requests [between January 1, 2016 through the date the School responds] seeking public records of your school(s), and/or district(s). 2. All metadata from the requests in #1 above including all contact information of the requestor, including but not limited to emails and text messages. 3. All electronic communications regarding #1 above including but not limited to emails and text messages. 4. All responses, appeals, fee requests and responsive records resulting from the requests in #1 above. Claiming to not yet have received a response, Commonwealth Transparency petitioned this office, and this appeal, SPR21/3247, 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. 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 Richard Lind SPR21/3247 Page 2 December 28, 2021 Despite being notified of the opening of this appeal, it is unclear if a response has been provided. Accordingly, the School is ordered to provide Commonwealth Transparency 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. Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Commonwealth Transparency