Michelle Grewal v. Wachusett Regional School District (SPR 20241295)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records May 13, 2024 SPR24/1295 Barry Sclar Director of Technology and Communication Wachusett Regional School District 1745 Main Street Jefferson, MA 01522 Dear Mr. Sclar: I have received the petition of Michelle Grewal appealing the response of the Wachusett Regional School District (School) to a request for public records. See G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On March 20, 2024, Ms. Grewal requested: …a count of student disciplinary action in the preschool through elementary grades of preschool through fifth grade. I am looking for the mean, median In mode of student incident. Meaning, for students in each grade, what percentage of students in the 22 to 23 school year and the 23 to 24 school year have had an incident. Of those who have had an incident, what is the high watermark for incident per student. Meaning, if there are 100 students, and 10 of them had an incident or above, what is the highest amount of incident in those students. If you were able to provide a count for each of the 10 students that is what I am looking for…. Previous appeal This request was the subject of a previous appeal. See SPR24/1013 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (April 3, 2024). In my April 3, 2024 determination, I learned that the School provided Ms. Grewal with a response dated April 3, 2024. Unsatisfied with the School’s response, Ms. Grewal petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR24/1295, 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 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

Barry Sclar SPR24/1295 Page 2 May 13, 2024 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. 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 April 3rd response In its April 3, 2024 response, the School asserted: The data [the School] provided was based on incidents that have been logged in PowerSchool and I have confirmed that the data is complete. However, not everything that might be called an “incident” is reported to the state or logged in PowerSchool. Incidents that are not reportable by mandate may or may not be logged in PowerSchool, according to the discretion of school administrators. In many cases, particularly when working with younger students, administrators choose to document incidents on paper and file them in the student’s physical record. The district is not in possession of any records that reflect the total counts of incidents documented outside of PowerSchool. Ms. Grewal responded and requested copies of the incident reports that have been logged into PowerSchool [for an identified individual], as well as incident policies and procedures for how incidents are documented and recorded. On April 4, 2024 the School responded and confirmed that there are no incidents logged into PowerSchool for the identified individual. Further the School provided the requested information regarding incident policies and procedures. Current Appeal In her current appeal, Ms. Grewal stated: I am appealing the fact that [additional incident reports] should have been included [in the PowerSchool system] given they meet the mandatory standards reporting for [School Safety and Discipline Report (SSDR)].… This complaint is

Barry Sclar SPR24/1295 Page 3 May 13, 2024 principally about the failure of [the School], namely [identified individuals] to record multiple mandatory-to-report incidents, therefore violating proper records- keeping, among other things.... Further, Ms. Grewal states, “I request that the following occur…” [1] The records are reviewed, and uploaded to PowerSchool, and verified they have synced up with the state databases. [2] Communication of this issue to DESE…. [3] The [School] will be required to perform a comprehensive review of its incident response procedures and any records which have met this criteria and been omitted, to be submitted. A list of all missing incidents across the district shall be made available as a public record. A copy should also be made available to the [specific School an identified individual attends.] [4] The School develops and disseminates documented incident response procedures, including parental rights notifications and re-training from all staff. [5] The Office of Civil Rights Boston be contacted, to provide support for all missing records that have subsequently resulted in violation of the civil rights of students. Based on a telephone conference between a staff attorney of the Public Records Division and a representative of the School, the School confirmed that all responsive records have been provided. No Duty to Create Records Please be advised, under the Public Records Law a custodian is not required to create a record in response to a public records request. See G. L. c. 66, § 6A(d). In addition, a public employee is not required to answer questions, or do research, or create documents in response to questions. See 32 Op. Att’y Gen. 157, 165 (May 18, 1977). The duty to comply with requests for records extends to those records that exist and are in the possession, custody, or control of the custodian of records at the time of the request. See G. L. c. 66, § 10(a)(ii). Please be further advised that in compliance with the Public Records Law, the Supervisor of Records may only issue determinations where a violation of G. L. c. 66, § 10 has occurred. See G. L. c. 66, § 10A(a). In her appeal petition, Ms. Grewal has not alleged a violation of G. L. c. 66, § 10 by the School. Therefore, where it appears that no violation of G. L. c. 66, § 10 has been asserted in your correspondence, this office is unable to issue a determination at this time. Conclusion Accordingly, I will now consider this administrative appeal closed.

Barry Sclar SPR24/1295 Page 4 May 13, 2024 Sincerely, Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records cc: Michelle Grewal