Leiha Maldonado v. Mohawk Trail Regional School District (SPR 20221174)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records June 2, 2022 SPR22/1174 Karen Totman Mohawk Trail Regional School District 24 Ashfield Road Shelburne Falls, MA 01370 Dear Ms. Totman: I have received the petition of Leiha Maldonado appealing the response of the Mohawk Trail Regional School District (District) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On May 16, 2022, Ms. Maldonado requested various communications between the school committee, parents, and community members, and made multiple modifications to her request through May 18, 2022. The District responded on May 18, 2022, providing a fee estimate. Objecting to the fees, Ms. Maldonado appealed, and this case was opened as a result. The Public Records Law The Public Records Law strongly favors disclosure by creating a presumption that all governmental records are public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A(d); 950 C.M.R. 32.03(4). “Public records” is broadly defined to include all documentary materials or data, regardless of physical form or characteristics, made or received by any officer or employee of any agency or municipality of the Commonwealth, unless falling within a statutory exemption. G. L. c. 4, § 7(26). It is the burden of the records custodian to demonstrate the application of an exemption in order to withhold a requested record. G. L. c. 66, § 10(b)(iv); 950 C.M.R. 32.06(3); see also Dist. Att’y for the Norfolk Dist. v. Flatley, 419 Mass. 507, 511 (1995) (custodian has the burden of establishing the applicability of an exemption). To meet the specificity requirement a custodian must not only cite an exemption, but must also state why the exemption applies to the withheld or redacted portion of the responsive record. If there are any fees associated with a response, a written good faith estimate must be provided. G. L. c. 66, § 10(b)(viii); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.07(2). Once fees are paid, a records custodian must provide the responsive records. 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

Karen Totman SPR22/1174 Page 2 June 2, 2022 Fee Estimates 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 2 (two) 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 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 Fee Estimate The School provided an initial fee estimate on May 18, 2022, and in a revised fee estimate provided to Ms. Maldonado on May 20, 2022, the School provides the following information: After completing the two requests . . . it took three hours and thirty-eight minutes for Principal Hayley Gilmore and [the RAO] to search for, locate, print, redact, and transfer the requested documents to an electronic format. The breakdown is as follows: 90 minutes to search email and documents and compile them in a Google Folder. (For the May 16th request, the time to do this piece was not tracked and therefore can’t be included); 58 minutes to download, print and redact the May 16th request; 65 minutes to download, print and redact the May 18th request; 5 minutes to scan and convert all files into two separate pdf s. In accordance with the Public Records Law, the hourly fee assessed cannot exceed $25.00 per hour. For communities with a population of more than 20,000, the hourly fee for the first two hours is waived. The Mohawk Trail Regional School District is a community with less than a population of 20,000. The District further indicates that it has a total of 129 pages responsive to the request, and that the total cost is $90.83. Although the district has clearly explained the tasks involved and the time required for each task, the District must clarify whether the redaction described in the fee estimate is required

Karen Totman SPR22/1174 Page 3 June 2, 2022 by law. Please note that a fee shall not be assessed for time spent segregating or redacting records unless such 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). For the reasons discussed above, I find the District must revise its fee estimate or provide further explanation of how the fees assessed are consistent with G. L. c. 66, § 10(d). Conclusion Accordingly, the District is ordered to provide Ms. Maldonado with a response to her 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 this response to this office at pre@sec.state.ma.us. Sincerely, ·'' . I . . - ~ - . Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Leiha Maldonado