Craig Haller v. Brookline, Town of - Town Clerk (SPR 20240612)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records March 8, 2024 SPR24/0612 Ben Kaufman Town Clerk Town of Brookline 333 Washington Street, Room 104 Brookline, MA 02445 Dear Mr. Kaufman: I have received the petition of Craig Haller, appealing the nonresponse of the Town of Brookline (Town) to a request for public records. See G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On February 11, 2024, Mr. Haller requested “any and all communication and email correspondence between… [14 identified individuals], either individually or in any combination that contain any of the following… key words: Deleveling, De-leveling, leveling, Curriculum, Data, Pilot, Working Group, Curriculum Night, Brookline.News, ELA [from]… February 1 - February 12, 2024.” Claiming to not yet have received responsive records, Mr. Haller petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR24/0612, was opened as a result. After this appeal was opened, in an email to the Town and this office on March 5, 2024, Mr. Haller modified his request to “any and all communication and email correspondence that might contain any of the following… key words: … [Deleveling, De-leveling, Curriculum Night, and Brookline.News] … [and any emails that include, at minimum: [10 identified individuals from] … February 5 - February 12, 2024[.]” Subsequently, based on a telephone conversation between this office and a Town representative on March 8, 2024, I learned that a representative from the Town intends on providing a written response to Mr. Haller. Accordingly, the Town is ordered to provide Mr. Haller with said response to his modified March 5th request, in a manner consistent with 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. If issues remain unresolved, Mr. Haller may appeal the substantive nature 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

Ben Kaufman SPR24/0612 Page 2 March 8, 2024 of the Town’s response to his modified March 5th request within ninety days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Sincerely, Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records cc: Craig Haller