Framingham Unfiltered v. Christa McAuliffe Regional Charter School (SPR 20221665)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records August 2, 2022 SPR22/1665 Frederick Randall Interim Executive Director Christa McAuliffe Charter School 139 Newbury Street Framingham, MA 01701 Dear Mr. Randall: I have received the petition of Framingham Unfiltered appealing the response of the Christa McAuliffe Charter School (School) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On July 6, 2022, Framingham Unfiltered requested various categories of receipts, communications, emails and meeting minutes. The School responded on July 19, 2022, providing a fee estimate. Objecting to the fees, Framingham Unfiltered 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

Frederick Randall SPR22/1665 Page 2 August 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 July 19th Response In its July 19, 2022 response, the School states that it has “estimated approximately 5685 emails that have come up in [its] initial search and as such, [the School has] estimated that it will take up to 94 hours (approximately one minute an email) for McAuliffe to compile and review all of the emails that [Framingham Unfiltered has] requested.” The School further indicates that it is charging “at the permitted rate of $25 per hour, which is less than the lowest hourly rate paid to a person capable of compiling the requested records and less the first two hours.” The School indicates a total cost of $2,300. Based on the School’s response, it is unclear why the School requires the amount of time described above in order to respond to this request. The School must provide further details regarding the tasks involved and what each task entails, including the time it is allocating to compiling, segregating, redacting and reproducing the requested records. See G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv) (requiring the amount of the fee be reasonable). Additionally, as noted above, 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). Accordingly, the School must indicate whether any segregation or redaction is required by law. For the reasons discussed above, I find the School must revise its fee estimate or provide further explanation of how the fees assessed are consistent with G. L. c. 66, § 10(d).

Frederick Randall SPR22/1665 Page 3 August 2, 2022 Additionally, where the requestor has indicated a willingness to “refine” the request, this office encourages the requestor and the School to communicate directly in order to facilitate providing records more efficiently and affordably. See G. L. c. 66, § 10(b)(vii) (a municipality shall suggest a reasonable modification of the scope of the request or offer to assist the requestor to modify the scope of the request if doing so would enable the municipality to produce the records sought more efficiently and affordably). Any revision to the request would result in the requirement to issue a revised fee estimate. Conclusion Accordingly, the School is ordered to provide Framingham Unfiltered 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 this response to this office at pre@sec.state.ma.us. Sincerely, Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records cc: Framingham Unfiltered