Anastasia E. Lennon v. New Bedford, City of - Public Schools (SPR 20213275)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records December 29, 2021 SPR21/3275 Heather Emsley Executive Director of Human Capital Services City of New Bedford Public Schools 455 County Street, Room 101 New Bedford, MA 02740 Dear Ms. Emsley: I have received the petition of Anastasia E. Lennon, of The New Bedford Light, appealing the nonresponse of the New Bedford Public Schools (School) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On December 1, 2021, Ms. Lennon requested copies of internal New Bedford Public Schools electronic communications that contain any of eleven identified key terms and emails and texts to or from identified persons. Claiming to not yet have received a response, Ms. Lennon petitioned this office, and this appeal, SPR21/3275, 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 School is ordered to provide Ms. Lennon 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

Heather Emsley SPR21/3275 Page 2 December 29, 2021 Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Anastasia E. Lennon