Raj Kumar v. Fall River, City of - Public Schools (SPR 20230179)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records February 10, 2023 SPR23/0179 Debra Cabral Records Access Officer City of Fall River 417 Rock Street Fall River, MA 02720 Dear Ms. Cabral: I have received the petition of Raj Kumar appealing the response of the Fall River Public Schools (School) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On January 10, 2023, Mr. Kumar requested, “[t]he four most recent contracts/ collective bargaining agreements and any MOU’S between the city and every city union including teachers, police, police sergeants, fire, ems, city hall, public works and all other unions. Include all pay scales and all side-letters and all MOUS.” The School responded on January 26, 2023 and January 27, 2023. Unsatisfied with the responses, Mr. Kumar petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR23/0179, was opened as 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, § l0A(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

Debra Cabral SPR23/0179 Page 2 February 10, 2023 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 The School’s January Responses In its January 26, 2023 response, the School provided records through a link and provided the contact information of another Records Access Officer for additional records. On January 27, 2023, the School provided a list of contact information for more Records Access Officers and stated, “[t]he Assistant City Clerk identified the Records Access Officer having control of School Department collective bargaining agreements, once it was learned that those agreements were not available through our Human Resources Department.” Current Appeal In his appeal, Mr. Kumar states, “[t]he response contained a link to the files on box.com. However these files cannot be saved, exported, printed, or copied. They can only be viewed by a computer actively connected to the internet and only available as long as the RAO does not modify or delete them. These files are not in searchable format, as required by law …” Preferred Format A records access officer must, to the extent feasible, provide public records to a requestor in electronic format unless the record is not available in electronic form or the requestor does not have the ability to receive or access the records in electronic format and if feasible, in the requestor’s preferred format. In the absence of a preferred format, the records must be provided in a searchable machine-readable form. See 950 C.M.R. 32.04(5)(d). In light of Mr. Kumar’s appeal, I find the School must clarify whether the responsive records can be provided in the format that Mr. Kumar requested. I encourage the parties to work together to resolve the outstanding issues. Conclusion Accordingly, the School is ordered to provide Mr. Kumar with a response to the request, provided 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.

Debra Cabral SPR23/0179 Page 3 February 10, 2023 Sincerely, Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records cc: Raj Kumar