Sky Kochenour v. Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (SPR 20220546)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records March 11, 2022 SPR22/0546 Helene Bettencourt Records Access Officer Department of Elementary and Secondary Education 75 Pleasant Street Malden, MA 02148-4906 Dear Ms. Bettencourt: I have received the petition of Sky Kochenour, Esq., Center for Law and Education, appealing the response of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (Department) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On November 22, 2021, Attorney Kochenour requested records from the period of April 1, 2021 until November 22, 2021, specifically: 1. Admission policies submitted by individual schools, local school districts and regional school districts to [the Department] pursuant to 603 C.M.R. 4.03(6) including all versions where more than one is submitted (e.g., drafts or revisions); 2. All requests to the Department by individual schools, local school districts, and regional school districts to comply with the terms of 603 C.M.R. 4.03(6) in any way other than as written in the regulation (e.g., requests for waivers) and the Department’s response to all such requests; 3. All related and/or supporting documents, data, and correspondence in any written form concerning students admissions to career/vocational and technical education schools and programs, regardless of whether transmitted simultaneously with, before, or after submission of the any admissions policies pursuant to 603 C.M.R. 4.03(6), including, but not limited to, documents and data demonstrating that submitted admissions policies comply with 603 C.M.R. 4.00 and the Vocational Education Programs Guidelines for Eliminating Discrimination and Denial of Services on the Basis of Race, Color, National Origin, Sex and Handicap, received or sent by the Department from or to individual schools, local school districts, or regional school districts; and 4. All related and/or supporting documents, data, and correspondence in any written form concerning students admissions to career/vocational and technical education schools and programs received or sent by the Department from or to Board of 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

Helene Bettencourt SPR22/0546 Page 2 March 11, 2022 Elementary and Secondary Education members, Department personnel, or other offices or employees of the executive branch not within the Department. On December 7, 2021, Joshua A. Varon, Associate General Counsel for the Department, acknowledged the request, and indicated, “the Department will produce the records [Attorney Kochenour has] requested as soon as possible but, for some items, will require clarification and modification of the scope of the request to facilitate more efficient and affordable production…” After not receiving all the responsive records, Attorney Kochenour petitioned the Supervisor of Records (Supervisor), and this appeal was opened. Subsequent to the opening of this appeal, on March 10, 2022, Attorney Varon informed a member of my legal staff that he would contact Attorney Kochenour by telephone and would provide a written response to the requests and this appeal. Order Accordingly, the Department is ordered to provide Attorney Kochenour with a response to the request, in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations within 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. Attorney Kochenour may appeal the substantive nature of the response within 90 calendar days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Sky Kochenour, Esq., Center for Law and Education cc: Joshua A. Varon, Esq., Associate General Counsel, DESE