Rachel Fiore v. Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion Charter School (SPR 20243199)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records December 11, 2024 SPR24/3199 Kathleen Wang Principal Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion Charter School 317 Russell Street Hadley, MA 01035 Dear Principal Wang: I have received the petition of Rachel Fiore appealing the response of the Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion Charter School (School/PVCICS) to a request for public records. See G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On October 25, 2024, Ms. Fiore requested “… a copy of the parent survey from last year … [and] any other parent surveys and all SEPAC surveys (including comments) that have been completed since the last expansion request.” The School provided responses on November 8, 2024 and November 12, 2024. Unsatisfied with the responses, Ms. Fiore petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR24/3199, was opened as a result. Fee Estimates – Municipalities 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 hour if such rate is approved by the Supervisor of Records under a petition under G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv). 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

Kathleen Wang SPR24/3199 Page 2 December 11, 2024 A fee shall not be assessed for time spent segregating or redacting records unless such segregation or redaction is required by law or approved by the Supervisor of Records under a petition under G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv). See G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iii); 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4). The School’s Responses In its November 8, 2024 response, the School provided Ms. Fiore with twelve records responsive to her request. The School assessed a fee of $300.00 to provide the remaining responsive records. On November 12, 2024, the School clarified that there were eight additional records responsive to Ms. Fiore’s request. In an email communication to this office on November 26, 2024, the School provided additional detail concerning its fee estimate. Specifically, the School stated: The scope of the request necessitates a detailed search through several years of files to find the surveys requested. This process involves manual review and cross-referencing to ensure the completeness of the response. Staff estimated this task would take approximately 4 hours … To ensure compliance with applicable exemptions under the Public Records Law and Open Meeting Law, including redaction of legally protected information (e.g., personal data, student records under FERPA, or privileged communications), an additional 8 hours is required. PVCICS is willing to provide the survey results without parent comments without the redaction charge, as the cumulate results do not contain FERPA protected information. However, the requestor is also seeing all parent comments from the survey which requires a detailed review of each comment section within each survey to assure FERPA compliance and personnel records compliance … The labor rate for performing these tasks was calculated based on the lowest hourly rate of a qualified staff member capable of performing the work, which is $25/hour, as permitted under 950 CMR 32.07(2)(m).  4 hours (location) + 8 hours (redaction) = 12 hours total  12 hours x $25/hour = $300 Fee Waivers G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(v) provides the following with respect to waiving a fee for the production of responsive records: the records access officer may waive or reduce the amount of any fee charged under this subsection upon a showing that disclosure of a requested record is in the public interest because it is likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of the operations or activities of the government and is not

Kathleen Wang SPR24/3199 Page 3 December 11, 2024 primarily in the commercial interest of the requestor, or upon a showing that the requestor lacks the financial ability to pay the full amount of the reasonable fee. Please be advised, although the Supervisor may encourage fees to be waived, the Supervisor may not mandate that a records access officer waive fees assessed for complying with a public records request; rather, as described above, the records access officer may waive or reduce the amount of any fee upon a showing of various factors. See G. L. c. 66, § 10 (d)(v); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.07(2)(k). Reasonableness of the Fee Estimate Based on the School’s response, it is unclear why it requires 12 hours to respond to Ms. Fiore’s request. Specifically, it is unclear why the search process requires 4 hours to complete, given that the School identified the remaining responsive records in its November 12th response. Further, it is unclear why the proposed redactions will require 8 hours to complete. Specifically, it is unclear how many pages of records the School has in its possession, and how many minutes per page it requires to redact the records. The School must clarify these matters. It also appears that the School’s fee estimate includes charges for the first two hours of employee time required to respond to the request. Municipal entities 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). The School must clarify this matter. Further, the School indicates that it intends to redact the responsive records “… to assure FERPA compliance and personnel records compliance …” Under the Public Records Law, a fee may not be assessed for time spent segregating or redacting records unless such segregation or redaction is required by law or approved by the Supervisor of Records pursuant to a petition under G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv). See G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(ii); 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4). The School must clarify whether its November 8th fee estimate includes charges for segregation and redaction which is not required by law. For the reasons discussed above, I find the School must revise its fee estimate or provide further explanation of how the fee of $300.00 assessed in its November 8th estimate is consistent with G. L. c. 66, § 10(d). Conclusion Accordingly, the School is ordered to provide Ms. Fiore with a response to the request, provided in a manner consistent with this order, 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. Ms. Fiore may appeal the substantive nature of the School’s response within ninety days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1).

Kathleen Wang SPR24/3199 Page 4 December 11, 2024 Sincerely, Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records cc: Rachel Fiore