Katherine Carlson v. Acton-Boxborough Regional School District (SPR 20243013)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records November 19, 2024 SPR24/3013 Andrew Shen Deputy Superintendent of Schools Acton-Boxborough Regional School District 15 Charter Road Acton, MA 01720 Dear Mr. Shen: I have received the petition of Katherine Carlson appealing the response of the Acton- Boxborough 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 October 31, 2024, Ms. Carlson requested “copies of original documents showing: the excel files submitted to the state by Sept 30, 2024 as part of the annual End of Year (FY24) report.” The School responded on November 21, 2024. Unsatisfied with the School’s response, Ms. Carlson petitioned this office, and this appeal, SPR24/3013, 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 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. Attorney 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 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

Andrew Shen SPR24/3013 Page 2 November 19, 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. The School’s November 5th Responses In its November 5, 2024 response, the School provides responsive records in .pdf format. In a further response on the same day, the School explains the following: It is our general practice to send documents that are responsive to public records requests as PDFs to ensure that the information can’t be edited or manipulated. I have asked our legal counsel about this practice, and they have indicated that requests for editable versions are not required to be met. Current Appeal In her appeal petition, Ms. Carlson argues the following: Specifically, I asked for a copy of the original excel spreadsheet files that were submitted to the Dept. of Education earlier this summer as part of the annual End of Year reporting mandated by DESE. I received a 56 page pdf of those files on Nov. 5th, and in reply asked for the excel files as originally asked for. . . . The ... pdf is a printout of many types of data - it is not the same as an original excel spreadsheet document. When dealing with numbers and calculations, in particular, an excel file is significantly different from the printout. Preferred Format of the Requestor The School is advised that a records access officer shall, to the extent feasible, provide public records to a requestor in electronic format unless the record is not available in electronic form or the requestor does not have the ability to receive or access the records in electronic format, and if feasible, in the requestor’s preferred format. In the absence of a preferred format, the records shall be provided in a searchable machine-readable form. See 950 C.M.R. 32.04(5)(d). Additionally, the Public Records Access Regulations state that “the records access officer must provide electronic records in native form when possible.” 950 C.M.R. 32.07 (1)(d). Based on the forgoing, the School must clarify whether it is able to provide the responsive records in the format requested by Ms. Carlson. Conclusion Accordingly, the School is ordered to provide Ms. Carlson with a response to the request, provided in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations

Andrew Shen SPR24/3013 Page 3 November 19, 2024 within ten (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: Katherine Carlson