Corey Spaulding v. Everett, City of - Public Schools (SPR 20232900)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records December 12, 2023 SPR23/2900 Superintendent William Hart Everett Public Schools 121 Vine Street Everett, MA 02149 Dear Superintendent Hart: I have received the petition of Corey Spaulding appealing the response of the Everett 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 25, 2023, Ms. Spaulding requested, “[a]ny and all information regarding the federal and state grants … for the past 5 years.” The School responded on October 26, 2023 and November 9, 2023, providing a fee estimate. Unsatisfied with the School’s response, Ms. Spaulding petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR23/2900, was opened as a result. Fee Estimates – 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 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 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 William Hart SPR23/2900 Page 2 December 12, 2023 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 October 26th Response and November 9th Fee Estimate In its October 26, 2023 response, the School stated, “[the School] estimates that in this time frame there are approximately 200 grants and that it will take at least 3 weeks to gather the documents. [The School] will also have to charge for the expense of identifying and redacting anything that is confidential or would contain any personally identifying information.” In its November 9, 2023 response, the School provided a fee estimate of $1,000.00, and stated: The lowest paid employee in the office who is a clerk is paid a daily rate of $235.04 which is $29.38 per hour. Her hourly rate is then reduced by law to $25.00 per hour. I am informed that to search for and compile the responsive records for the full 5 year period of time requested the clerk has already expended 4 seven hour days and expects to spend an estimated 2 more seven hour days searching for and compiling the records. She expects to be done on Monday. The records will be produced electronically via Google so that there will not be any documentary expense. Accordingly the estimate (including a 2 hour credit due to the population of the city) is: 42 hours x. 25.00 = $1,050.00, (less 2 hours) or $1000.00 In its fee estimate, the School stated that it will assess a $1000.00 fee, however, it is unclear how the School calculated its $1000.00 fee. Particularly, it is not clear how many hours will be spent searching, segregating, redacting or reproducing the records. The School must provide further details regarding the tasks involved, including the time it is allocating to searching, compiling, segregating, redacting and reproducing the requested records. See G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv) (requiring the amount of the fee be reasonable). Further, based on the School’s responses, I find the School must clarify if the redactions are required by law, and state the applicable statutes, if any. Pursuant to the Public Records Law, a fee may 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)(ii); 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4). The School must clarify. 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 9th estimate is consistent with G. L. c. 66, § 10(d).

Superintendent William Hart SPR23/2900 Page 3 December 12, 2023 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