James Vaznis v. Boston, City of - Public Schools (SPR 20231730)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records August 9, 2023 SPR23/1730 Shawn A. Williams, Esq. Director of Public Records City of Boston 1 City Hall Square, Room 615 Boston, MA 02201 Dear Attorney Williams: I have received the petition of James Vaznis, of the Boston Globe, appealing the responses of the City of Boston (City) to a request for public records. See G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On March 27, 2023, Mr. Vaznis requested “copies of all settlement agreements entered into by Boston Public Schools with parents, guardians or students for the 2022-23 school year, the 2021-22 school year, the 2020-21 school year, the 2019-20 school year, and the 2018-19 school year.” The City responded on April 11, 2023 and on May 2, 2023, indicating it would require additional time to provide records. Mr. Vaznis contacted the City again on July 12, 2023, seeking an update to his request. Having received no further response, Mr. Vaznis 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. 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

Shawn A. Williams, Esq. SPR23/1730 Page 2 August 9, 2023 Current Appeal In his appeal petition, Mr. Vaznis explains that he “still [has] not received any documents and [has] not even been provided a concrete timeline as to when they expect to produce the records, even though state law requires public agency’s to generate such timelines when they can’t produce records within the required 10 days.” The City’s April 11th and May 2nd Responses In its April 11, 2023 response, the City indicates that the records request “is still in progress” and that the City will “provide an update to [Mr. Vaznis] once additional information is provided to [the City] by the [School] department.” In its May 2, 2023 response, the City states “that the records are still under review for possible redaction. Due to the volume of the records and scope of the request, this may take some time to complete.” The City is advised that G. L. c. 66, § 10(b) provides, in pertinent part, that if the magnitude or difficulty of a request unduly burdens the other responsibilities of the municipality such that the municipality cannot provide records within 10 business days, the municipality must inform the requestor in writing within 10 business days. With respect to the timeframe to produce responsive records, the written response shall: identify a reasonable timeframe in which the agency or municipality shall produce the public records sought; provided, that ... for a municipality the timeframe shall not exceed 25 business days following the initial receipt of the request for public records; and provided further, that the requestor may voluntarily agree to a response date beyond the timeframes set forth herein. G. L. c. 66, § 10(b)(vi). Where Mr. Vaznis submitted his request on March 27, 2023, and the City has not provided responsive records, nor cited an exemption for withholding records, I find the City has not met its burden in responding to the request in accordance with G. L. c. 66, § 10(b). Consequently, the City must provide an estimated date as to when it intends to complete the search and provide the responsive records. See G. L. c. 66, § 10(a) (records must be provided without unreasonable delay). To the extent possible, the City must provide responsive records on a rolling basis. Conclusion Accordingly, the City is ordered to provide Mr. Vaznis with a response to his 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 the response to this office at pre@sec.state.ma.us.

Shawn A. Williams, Esq. SPR23/1730 Page 3 August 9, 2023 Sincerely, Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records cc: James Vaznis