Naomi Martin v. Quincy, City of - Public Schools (SPR 20220680)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records March 29, 2022 SPR22/0680 Allison Cox Director of Human Resources and Educator Development Quincy Public Schools 34 Coddington Street Quincy, MA 02169 Dear Director Cox: I have received the petition of Naomi Martin, of the Boston Globe, appealing the response of the Quincy Public Schools (School) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On February 4, 2022, Ms. Martin requested: [1] [A]ny and all contracts or invoices with outside vendors or private parties for legal, investigative or human resources work from Jan. 1, 2007 through Jan. 30, 2022 pertaining to inquiries related to allegations of abuse, bullying, harassment, discrimination or other misbehavior or misconduct by students, staff members, and/or coaches[.] [2] [A]ny and all related records to such services provided from Jan. 1, 2007 through Jan. 30, 2022. This includes, but is not limited to: [a] any prepared reports, investigations or reviews [b] any preparatory materials or files, including internal and external communications or electronic correspondence in the possession of the district, school board or school officials [c] service orders, memoranda of agreement/understanding, or other records related to retainment, cost, and scope of work. [d] any emails, statements, news releases, or other communications to families, educators, the media, or the public about the outside vendors’ work[.] The School provided a response on February 17, 2022, including responsive records in redacted form pursuant to Exemptions (a) and (c) of the Public Records Law. G. L. c. 4, § 7(26)(a), (c). Subsequently, on February 24, 2022, Ms. Martin made a follow-up request for the following: 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

Director Allison Cox SPR22/0680 Page 2 March 29, 2022 [1] . . . a copy of the final investigative report by [a named individual] in the matter related to the records you sent, as requested. [3] . . . records showing how much the district paid for that work by Visions. I would also like to clarify that if there are any other outside vendors that have done similar assessments related to bullying, harassment, discrimination, etc., we believe that would fall under this request too. [3] . . . the [named individual’s] work does not show how much the district paid her, only her hourly rate of $250 per hour. Is there an invoice or another record type that would show how much total she was paid for her work? On March 9, 2022, the School provided a response denying access to the responsive records pursuant to Exemption (c) of the of the Public Records Law. G. L. c. 4, § 7(26)(c). Unsatisfied with the School’s response to the February 24th request, Ms. Martin petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR22/0680, was opened as a result. It is my understanding that the School provided a supplemental response to Ms. Martin on March 29, 2022. Accordingly, I will consider this administrative appeal closed. Ms. Martin may appeal the substantive nature of the School’s March 29th response within ninety (90) days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Naomi Martin