Debbie Barnes v. Billerica, Town of - Public Schools (SPR 20221473)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records July 11, 2022 SPR22/1473 Robin Hulsoor Director of Finance and Operations Town of Billerica Public Schools 365 Boston Road Billerica, MA 01821 Dear Ms. Hulsoor: I have received the petition of Debbie Barnes appealing the nonresponse of the Town of Billerica Public Schools (School) to requests for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, Ms. Barnes requested ten (10) categories of records concerning the School. The School provided a response on June 8, 2022, and at the same time filed a fee petition. See SPR22/1343 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (Supervisor) (June 15, 2022). The School requested a determination by the Supervisor to relieve the School of the requirement to waive the first two hours of search time for the ten separate public records requests, and any subsequent requests that Ms. Barnes may submit for the remainder of the current fiscal year. The Supervisor determined: “[t]he School requests relief outside the scope of statutory authority give to the Supervisor under the Public Records Law.” See G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv); G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iii); 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4). As a result, the Supervisor encouraged the parties to communication further to enable the School to provide records in an efficient and affordable manner. Having not received any response from the School after its June 8th response and after the Supervisor’s June 15th order, Ms. Barnes petitioned the Supervisor on June 24th, and this office opened an appeal for a nonresponse by the School. After this appeal was opened, on July 8th, Ms. Barnes reported that she still has not received a response from the School concerning her request(s). Under the Public Records Law and the Access Regulations (Regulations) all requests for public records must be met with a response within 10 business days from receipt of the request. G. L. c. 66, § 10(a)-(b). The response may contain, among other things, an offer to provide 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

Robin Hulsoor SPR22/1473 Page 2 July 11, 2022 records, a fee estimate for provision of the records, or a denial. G. L. c. 66, § 10(b). All records custodians must comply with both the Public Records Law and the Regulations with respect to the timeliness of response. Despite being notified of the opening of this appeal, it is unclear whether a response has been provided. Order Accordingly, the School is ordered to provide Ms. Barnes with a response to her requests, 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. Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Debbie Barnes