Tracy Metivier v. Billerica, Town of - Public Schools (SPR 20221683)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records August 3, 2022 SPR22/1683 Robin Hulsoor Director of Finance & Operations Billerica Public Schools 365 Boston Road Billerica, MA 01821 Dear Ms. Hulsoor: I have received the petition of Tracy Metivier appealing the response of the Billerica Public Schools (School) to a request for public records. See G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On June 2, 2022, Ms. Metivier requested “… correspondence, emails, texts, documents, meeting summaries, etc. regarding … [named person], as it relates to football, basketball and any other athletic department correspondence and meetings, from August 2019 to present day [and] … any and all texts and emails between [named persons] … reference to and about [named person].” The School responded on July 21, 2022. Unsatisfied with the response, Ms. Metivier petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR22/1683, 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. Attorney 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. 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 SPR22/1683 Page 2 August 3, 2022 The School’s July 21st response In its July 21, 2022 response, the School advised, “… to provide the most accurate cost estimate I can for your email request could you please provide employee names and keywords to search. A three year email search of the entire database … will return thousands of emails that will need to be read for student information and redacted before supplying to you. This amount of work will take days of time to perform and could cost hundreds of dollars. If you are able to narrow the search criteria the fee could be lower.” Current appeal In her appeal, Ms. Metivier asserted, “[o]ur objection is that the RAO for the Billerica Public Schools did not respond within 10 days to either provide acknowledgment, an estimate, nor a request for extension. The first response from the RAO was today which is 34 days past the original public records request. The RAO has just now requested additional time and an estimate for a fee assessment.” Fees - Timeliness of response 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. However, it is unclear whether the School provided Ms. Metivier with a written response within ten (10) business days from her request dated June 2, 2022. The School is advised that under the Public Records Law, “[a] records access officer shall not charge a fee for a public record unless the records access officer responded to the requestor within 10 business days in compliance with G. L. c. 66 §10(e) and 950 C.M.R. 32.06(2)(c). I find that the School must provide a response that demonstrates that it responded within 10 business days following receipt of Ms. Metivier’s request. Conclusion Accordingly, the School is ordered to provide Ms. Metivier with a response to the request, 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.

Robin Hulsoor SPR22/1683 Page 3 August 3, 2022 Sincerely, Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records cc: Tracy Metivier