Lissette Alvarado v. Mystic Valley Regional Charter School (SPR 20221080)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records May 18, 2022 SPR22/1080 Rick Veilleux Mystic Valley Regional Charter School 4 Laurel Street Malden, MA 02148 Dear Mr. Veilleux: I have received the petition of Lissette Alvarado appealing the response of the Mystic Valley Regional Charter School (School) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On April 1, 2022, Lissette Alvarado requested three categories of records from the School. The School responded on April 15, 2022, providing a letter stating that the School is not subject to the Public Records Law. The Public Records Law The Public Records Law applies to all records: made or received by any officer or employee of any agency, executive office, department, board, commission, bureau, division or authority of the commonwealth, or of any political subdivision thereof, or of any authority established by the general court to serve a public purpose, or any person, corporation, association, partnership or other legal entity which receives or expends public funds for the payment or administration of pensions for any current or former employees of the commonwealth or any political subdivision as defined in section 1 of chapter 32. G. L. c. 4, § 7(26). The Public Records Law therefore applies to public entities, and does not apply to private entities who are not engaged in an agency or contractual relationship with a public entity. 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

Rick Veilleux SPR22/1080 Page 2 May 18, 2022 The School’s April 15th Response In its April 15, 2022 response, the School provided Lissette Alvarado with a copy of an April 4, 2022 letter that the School had previously sent to others in response to separate requests. In the April 4th letter, the School contends that it is not subject to the Public Records Law. Please note that the claims raised by the School in its April 15th response and the April 4th letter were previously addressed by this office. See SPR22/1015 and SPR22/1016 Supervisor of Records Determination (May 12, 2022). In my May 12th determination, I reviewed the five factor test developed by the Supreme Judicial Court to determine whether an organization is considered a public entity, and found that the School is a public entity subject to the Public Records Law. See Massachusetts Bay Transp. Auth. Retirement Bd. v. State Ethics Comm’n (Board I), 414 Mass. 582, 589-91 (1993) (outlining the multi-factor test); see also Globe Newspaper Co. v. - - - - Massachusetts Bay Transp. Auth. Retirement Bd. (Board II), 416 Mass. 1007 (1993) (applying the test in the context of the Public Records Law). Conclusion Accordingly, the School is ordered to provide Lissette Alvarado with a response to the request, provided in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law, and its Regulations within ten business days. A copy of any such response must be provided to this office. It is preferable to send an electronic copy of the response to this office at pre@sec.state.ma.us. Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Lissette Alvarado