Bianca Vazquez Toness v. Boston, City of - Public Records (SPR 20220166)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records February 4, 2022 SPR22/0166 Shawn A. Williams, Esq. Director of Public Records Records Access Officer City of Boston One City Hall Plaza, Room 615 Boston, MA 02201 Dear Attorney Williams: I have received the petition of Bianca Vazquez-Toness of the Boston Globe appealing the nonresponse of the City of Boston Public Schools (City) to a request for public records. See G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On August 4, 2021, Ms. Vazquez-Toness requested copies of “…[a]ll emails sent to and from BPS [identified] … advisor [including] … emails where [identified] name is in ‘to’ or ‘from’ field sent in March, April and May of 2021.” On August 18, 2021, Ms. Vazquez-Toness modified the scope of her request to specific dates. Claiming to not yet have received responsive records, Ms. Vazquez-Toness petitioned this office on January 24, 2022 and this appeal, SPR22/0166, was opened as a result. The Public Records Access Regulations, which govern the procedural aspects of all appeals, require that an appeal to this office be filed within ninety calendar days of the date of the request letter, or within ninety calendar days of the date of a written response from the record custodian. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1)(d); 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1)(e). The petition is requesting the appeal of an August 4, 2021 nonresponse, which exceeds the ninety day limit. Ms. Vazquez-Toness may make a new request to the City for the same information. The City would then have ten business days in which to respond to the new request. G. L. c. 66, § l0(a)-(b). If the City denies the request or fails to respond within ten business days, Ms. Vazquez-Toness may appeal to this office within the above timeframe. At that time this office will review the matter. 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

Shawn A. Williams, Esq. SPR22/0166 Page 2 February 4, 2022 Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Bianca Vazquez-Toness