Robert Watson, Sr. v. Leicester, Town of - Public Schools (SPR 20220092)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records January 24, 2022 SPR22/0092 Marilyn Tencza Superintendent of Schools Leicester Public Schools 3 Washburn Square Leicester, MA 01524 Dear Superintendent Tencza: I have received the petition of Robert Watson, Sr. appealing the response of the Leicester 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 18, 2021, Mr. Watson requested, “all emails between [certain individuals] between June 1, 2021 and November 30, 2021 and all emails between [certain individuals] between June 1, 2021 and September 30, 2021.” The School provided a response and fee estimate on January 13, 2022. Unsatisfied with the School’s response, Mr. Watson petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR22/0092, was opened as a result. Fee Estimate – Municipalities A municipality may assess a reasonable fee for the production of a public record except those records that are freely available for public inspection. G. L. c. 66, § 10(d). The fees must reflect the actual cost of complying with a particular request. Id. A maximum fee of five cents ($.05) per page may be assessed for a black and white single or double-sided photocopy of a public record. G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(i). Municipalities may not assess a fee for the first (two) 2 hours of employee time to search for, compile, segregate, redact or reproduce the record or records requested unless the municipality has 20,000 people or less. G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iii). Where appropriate, municipalities may include as part of the fee an hourly rate equal to or less than the hourly rate attributed to the lowest paid employee who has the necessary skill required to search for, compile, segregate, redact or reproduce a record requested, but the fee shall not be more than $25 per hour. Id. However, municipalities may charge more than $25 per hour if such rate is approved by the Supervisor of Records under a petition under G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv). A fee shall not be assessed for time spent segregating or redacting records unless such 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 Marilyn Tencza SPR22/0092 Page 2 January 24, 2022 segregation or redaction is required by law or approved by the Supervisor of Records under a petition under G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv). See G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iii); 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4). -- The School’s January 13th Fee Estimate On January 13, 2022, the School stated: Subject to payment of all applicable fees, the [School] will provide you with copies of any records responsive to your request to the extent that such records are subject to disclosure under the Public Records Law … [For the first request, s]earch time by the lowest-paid Town employees…capable of searching for and compiling responsive emails: one hour at $25.00 per hour for a total of $25.00…Segregation and redaction time…: 15 minutes at $25.00 per hour for a total of $6.25…The estimate for search and segregation time is because the School…will need to review the documents that are responsive to this request to confirm that they do not contain information exempt from production … [For the second request, s]earch time by the lowest-paid Town employees…capable of searching for and compiling responsive emails: three hours at $25.00 per hour, for a total of $75.00…A preliminary search yielded some 2,000 or more pages that will need to be reviewed for segregation and redaction…by the lowest-paid Town employee…: eight hours at $25.00 per hour, for a total of $200…The estimate for search and segregation time is because legal counsel will need to review the documents that are responsive to this request to confirm that they do not contain information exempt from the Public Records Law … The total estimated cost of your two requests is $306.25. Current Appeal On January 14, 2022, Mr. Watson stated, “with today’s technology and ability to search for emails within seconds, there is no way this task takes more than an hour…The School is out of compliance with a records request, the fees are [exorbitant] and they should not be charging for simple emails between [the named individuals].” To the best of my knowledge, the School has not submitted a petition under G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv) to charge for segregation and redaction for Exemptions (c) and (d) of the Public Records Law. Please note that petitions seeking permission to assess fees must be made within ten business days after receipt of a request for public records. Further, it is unclear to what extent

Superintendent Marilyn Tencza SPR22/0092 Page 3 January 24, 2022 the School intends to charge Mr. Watson for redactions under Exemption (c) and Exemption (d) as opposed to Exemption (a) and the attorney-client privilege, respectively. The School must clarify this. Additionally, it is unclear why the School requires one hour and fifteen minutes and eleven hours respectively to provide the requested records. The School must clarify the details regarding the tasks involved and what each task entails, including the time it is allocating to compiling, segregating, redacting, and reproducing the requested records. See G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv) (requiring the amount of the fee be reasonable). For example, the School does not describe how long per page it will need to review the 2,000 pages for appropriate redactions or why the School needs three hours to search for emails. The School must also clarify this. Conclusion Accordingly, the School is ordered to provide Mr. Watson with a response to the request, provided in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law, and its Regulations within ten (10) business days. A copy of any such 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: Robert Watson, Sr.