Rylee Meints v. Taunton, City of - Public Schools (SPR 20243179)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records December 4, 2024 SPR24/3179 John J. Cabral Superintendent of Schools Taunton Public Schools 215 Harris Street Taunton, MA 02780 Dear Supt. Cabral : I have received the petition of Rylee Meints, of the Center for Public Interest, Advocacy, and Collaboration, appealing the nonresponse of the Taunton 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 18, 2024 Ms. Meints requested the following: 1. Any and all documents relating to or filed in connection with school-related arrest and each referral to law enforcement conducted during the 2018-2019, 2019-2020, News Projects Requests Assignments 2020-2021, and 2021-2022 school year (up until the day the records are produced). Specifically, we request such documents produced to include, but not limited to, the following columns: a. Date of arrest or referral to law enforcement b. Time of arrest or referral to law enforcement c. Charge (or charges) d. Whether the individual(s) was arrested or referred to law enforcement e. Sex of individual(s) arrested or referred to law enforcement f. Age of individual(s) arrested or referred to law enforcement g. Race of individual(s) arrested or referred to law enforcement h. Ethnicity of individual(s) arrested or referred to law enforcement i. Disability status of the individual(s) arrested or referred to law enforcement j. Whether the individual arrested or referred to law enforcement is a student at the school. k. Name of arresting officer, if applicable, and l. Badge number of the arresting officer or the officer that referred the youth to law enforcement, as applicable. 2. If such a production of the documents in question 1 is not possible, please 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

John J Cabral SPR24/3179 Page 2 December 4, 2024 provide any reports, incident notes, status updates, or documents which were submitted to DESE as the result of a school based arrest or any such referral to law enforcement conducted during the 2018-2019, 2019-2020, 2020-2021, and 2021-2022 school year (up until the day the records are produced), per the U.S. Department of Education’s Civil Rights Data Collection for that year. For each referral to law enforcement or arrest, please include the school, demographic, and incident information described in DESE’s School Safety and Discipline Report Data Handbook v. 20.0. Claiming to not yet have received responsive records, Ms. Meints petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR24/3179, was opened as a result. Despite being notified of the opening of this appeal, it remains unclear whether the School has provided a response. Accordingly, the School is ordered to provide Ms. Meints with a response to her request, provided in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations 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. Ms. Meints may appeal the substantive nature of the School’s response within ninety (90) days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Sincerely, Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records cc: Rylee Meints