Commonwealth Transparency v. Assabet Valley Regional Technical High School (SPR 20213250)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records December 28, 2021 SPR21/3250 Ernest Houle Superintendent Assabet Valley Regional Technical High School 215 Fitchburg Street Marlborough, MA 01752 Dear Superintendent Houle: I have received the petition of Commonwealth Transparency appealing the nonresponse of the Assabet Valley Regional Technical High School (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, SPR21/3250, 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 Ernest Houle SPR21/3250 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