Corey Spaulding v. Hull, Town of - Public Schools (SPR 20232719)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records November 21, 2023 SPR23/2719 Superintendent Judith Kuehn Hull Public Schools 18 Harborview Road Hull, MA 02045 Dear Superintendent Kuehn: I have received the petition of Corey Spaulding appealing the response of the Hull 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 October 18, 2023, Ms. Spaulding requested, “[a]ny and all information regarding the federal and state grants Hull School Committee received for the past 5 years – all invoices, receipts, accounts, names of correspondents between Hull staff and state and federal agencies, dates, balance remaining, etc.” The School responded on November 8, 2023, providing a fee estimate. Unsatisfied with the School’s response, Ms. Spaulding petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR23/2719, was opened as a result. 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 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 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

Superintendent Matthew Francis SPR23/2719 Page 2 November 21, 2023 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). Petitions relating to fees must be submitted to the Supervisor within ten business days after receipt of a request for public records. 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4)(g). The School’s November 8th Fee Estimate In its November 8, 2023 response, the School provided a fee estimate of $2,803.75, and stated: In this case, the lowest paid employee who has the necessary skill required to search for, compile and reproduce the records requested, earns greater than $25 per hour… Notwithstanding that rate… a rate of $25 per hour will be used to calculate the following fee estimate… [The School] estimates that it will take approximately 112.15 hours of time to search for and compile records responsive to [Ms. Spaulding’s] request. This good faith estimate is based upon the fact that [the School] has received fifty-three (53) State and Federal grants in the last five years. The School broke down its fee estimate as follows: [1.] running reports to locate and compile all invoices (approximately 13.5 pages of invoices per grant, at 1 minute per invoice, equals 13.5 minutes per grant) (13.5 x 53 = 715.5 minutes, or 11.9 hours); [2.] locate and compile all grant applications (approximately 25 pages per grant x 53 grants = 1,325 pages at 1 minutes per page = 1,325 minutes, or 22 hours); [3.] locate and compile payment history for each grant (approximately 17 pages per report, at 1 minutes per page, equals 17 minutes per grant) (17 minutes x 53 grants = 901 minutes, or 15 hours); [4.] locate and compile all related payroll records (approximately 3 employees per grant, at approximately 5 pages per payroll record per employee, at 1 minutes per page, equals 15 minutes per grant) (15 x 53 = 795 minutes, or 13.25 hours): and [5.] Based on a search of the word “grant” in the email system for the last five years, a total of 160,295 results were found. Based on our own narrowing down of the search we would make a good faith estimate spending approximately 5 hours locating and compiling responsive correspondences. Additional time may not then need to be spent segregating and redacting as required by law, or pursuant to an approved petition to the Supervisor of Records… Accordingly, 112.15 hours of estimate work (11.9 +22 +15 +13.25 +50) multiplied by $25 per hour yields a fee estimate of $2803.75[.] Although the School has estimated that the process of searching the responsive records for production will take 112.15 hours of employee time, the School must clarify if the 112.15

Superintendent Matthew Francis SPR23/2719 Page 3 November 21, 2023 hours includes the first free 2 hours to search for, compile, segregate, redact or reproduce records. 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). For the reason discussed above, I find the School must revise its fee estimate or provide further explanation of how the fee assessed in its November 8th estimate is consistent with G. L. c. 66, § 10(d). I encourage Ms. Spaulding and the School to communicate further in order to facilitate producing records efficiently and affordably. Ms. Spaulding may wish to narrow the parameters or include applicable time periods or factors to enable the search to be processed. 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 Ms. Spaulding 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 the response to this office at pre@sec.state.ma.us. Sincerely, Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records cc: Corey Spaulding