Frank Wood v. Christa McAuliffe Regional Charter School (SPR 20221764)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records August 15, 2022 SPR22/1764 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 Regional Charter School (School) to a request for public records. See G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On July 20, 2022, Framingham Unfiltered requested: [1] …all emails sent or received by [a named individual] between 2/11/22- 2/21/22[;] [2] …any letter of resignation for [a named individual][;] [3]…any signed agreement between the school and [a named individual], when signed between 2/11/22-6/25/22[;] [4]…all emails received by [a named individual] between 2/21/22-6/24/2022 when the sender is [a named individual]… [5]…all emails sent or received by [a named individual] on any email accounts used to conduct school business, between 2/11/22-3/25/22 where any of these words/numbers exist, “theft”, “embezzle”, “[a name]”, “[a name]”, or “001554”[;] [6]…all emails sent or received by [a named individual] between 6/20/22-6/25/22. On August 1, 2022, the School responded. Unsatisfied with the School’s response, Framingham Unfiltered petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR22/1764, 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 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 SPR22/1764 Page 2 August 15, 2022 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(d)(iv) (written response must “identify any records, categories of records or portions of records that the agency or municipality intends to withhold, and provide the specific reasons for such withholding, including the specific exemption or exemptions upon which the withholding is based…”); 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). 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. Fee estimate – municipalities 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 (two) 2 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 August 1st Response In its August 1, 2022 response, the School gave a fee estimate of $1475. The School asserted that “we have estimated approximately 3557 emails that have come up in our initial search and as such, we have estimated that it will take up to 59 hours (approximately one minute an email) for McAuliffe to compile and review all of the emails that you have requested.”

Frederick Randall SPR22/1764 Page 3 August 15, 2022 The School provided a further response on August 10, 2022. However, it appears that this further response pertains to a different records request with a different fee estimate that was provided to Framingham Unfiltered on July 19, 2022. See SPR22/1665 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (August 2, 2022). Although the School has estimated that the process of compiling, reviewing, and preparing responsive documents for production will take 59 hours of employee time, it is unclear how the School requires this many hours to produce responsive records. It is also not clear what tasks are involved to prepare responsive records for production. As such, the School must provide further details regarding its fee estimate. See G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv) (requiring the amount of the fee be reasonable). Further, it is unclear whether the School is charging for exemptions that are not required by law. See G. L. c. 66, § l0(d)(iii) (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)). For the reasons discussed above, I find the School must revise its fee estimate or provide further explanation of how the fee assessed is expressly provided for and consistent with G. L. c. 66, § 10(d). I encourage Framingham Unfiltered and the School to communicate further in order to facilitate producing records efficiently and affordably. Framingham Unfiltered may wish to include additional factors to enable the search to be processed in an efficient manner. G. L. c. 66, § l0(a)(i). The School must use its knowledge of the records to facilitate providing any responsive records. G. L. c. 66, § l0(a)(vii) (an agency or 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 agency or municipality to produce records sought more efficiently and affordably). 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 (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.

Frederick Randall SPR22/1764 Page 4 August 15, 2022 Sincerely, Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records cc: Framingham Unfiltered