Alison Freeman v. Mendon-Upton Regional School District (SPR 20242524)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records September 20, 2024 SPR24/2524 Cheryl L. Kirkpatrick, Ed.D. Assistant Superintendent Mendon-Upton Regional School District 150 North Avenue Mendon, MA 01756 Dear Dr. Kirkpatrick: I have received the petition of Dr. Alison Freeman appealing the response of the Mendon-Upton Regional School District (District) to a request for public records. See G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On July 12, 2024, Dr. Freeman requested the following records: [1] All records, including internal and external emails to any party pertaining to my daughter ... from August 28, 2023 through present. This is to include a thorough search of personal devices used by district administrators, including text messages. [2] All records, including internal emails, pertaining to my daughter ... from May 2023 through present. Please include a thorough search of all personal devices of administrators, including text messages. Previous appeals This request was the subject of previous appeals. See SPR24/2011 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (July 26, 2024) and SPR24/2248 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (August 22, 2024). In my August 22nd determination, it was is my understanding that the District intended to provide a further response to Dr. Freeman. The District responded on September 6, 2024. Unsatisfied with the District’s response, Dr. Freeman petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR24/2526, was opened as a result. Fees - Municipalities If there are any fees associated with a response a written, good faith estimate must be 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

Cheryl L. Kirkpatrick, Ed.D. SPR24/2524 Page 2 September 20, 2024 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. 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) 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). 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 how if such rate is approved by the Supervisor of Records under a petition under G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv). Current appeal In her appeal, Dr. Freeman states, “I would also like to point out that the district continues to not provide any further clarification, as stated, and this is simply a method to further postpone me accessing my child’s records. The fee is prohibitory to us, charging this fee will not allow us to view our children’s educational records.” The District’s September 6th response In its September 6, 2024 response, the District provided a fee estimate of $250.00. In support of the fee estimate, the District stated, ... an initial search for records responsive to your request yielded 681 emails. Given this result, the anticipated need for [segregation] and redaction of these records in order to preserve the attorney-client privilege or withhold other exempt information. We anticipate that some of the information contained in the 681 emails may be subject to exemption (a), based on responsibility to comply with FERPA to guard against the disclosure of personally identifiable information of students in educational records (See Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act Regulations, 34 CFR § 99.3). ... the initial search and retrieval time (1 hour) to the estimated review and redaction Time (9 hours), we estimate that it will take 10 hours or 600 minutes of work to review 681 emails, an estimate which amounts to, on average, less than one minute per email (0.88 minutes/email). Multiplied by the hourly rate of $25.00, we arrive at a good faith fee estimate of $250.00.

Cheryl L. Kirkpatrick, Ed.D. SPR24/2524 Page 3 September 20, 2024 The District further opined, “[g]iven that the Town of Mendon and the Town of Upton, in aggregate, have a combined population of fewer than 20,000 residents according to decennial U.S. Census data... the District may assess a fee for the entirety of the time it takes to process any public record request, including the first 2 hours. The District further advised, “[t]he lowest paid person capable of performing this task earns greater than $25.00 per hour. Search, segregation, compilation and exporting of all responsive records in an electronic readable format. This work requires the involvement of the District’s technology staff. Due to the nature of the request, we will need to conduct a review of these responsive emails to determine whether any require redaction before disclosure, or whether there are records that are exempt from disclosure as described above. We estimate that it will take approximately 9 hours to review and [segregate] the records, determine necessary redactions and perform necessary redactions.” In light of the information provided in the District’s September 6th response, I find the District has met its burden to establish that it would take this amount of time to search for, segregate or redact the responsive records. See G. L. c. 66, § 10(d) (a records access officer may assess a reasonable fee for the production of a public record). Conclusion As set forth above, I find the District has met its burden in responding to the request at this time. Any revision to the request would result in the requirement to issue a revised fee estimate. Accordingly, I will consider this administrative appeal closed. Sincerely, Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records cc: Dr. Alison Freeman