Michael W. Donahue v. Georgetown, Town of - Public Schools (SPR 20243386)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records January 6, 2025 SPR24/3386 Margo Ferrick Superintendent of Schools Georgetown Public Schools 51 North Street Georgetown, MA 01833 Dear Superintendent Ferrick: I have received the petition of Michael Donahue appealing the response of the Georgetown Public Schools (School/District) to a request for public records. See G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On October 11, 2024, Mr. Donahue requested the following: [1.] Georgetown School District employee payroll identified by employee for the period September 1, 2023 to the present [2.] Georgetown School District employee attendance records identified by employee for the period September 1, 2022 to the present[.] Prior Appeals This request was the subject of prior appeals. See SPR24/2982 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (November 14, 2024) and SPR24/3197 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (December 10, 2024). In my December 10th determination, I found that it was unclear how the requested attendance records contain medical information related to a specially named individual and how the records could be withheld in their entirety. The School provided a response on December 17, 2024, providing a fee estimate. Unsatisfied with the School’s response, Mr. Donahue petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR24/3386, 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

Superintendent Margo Ferrick SPR24/3386 Page 2 January 6, 2025 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. Fee estimate – 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). 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). Current Appeal In his appeal petition, Mr. Donahue states the following: It is evident that the Georgetown School District is purposely delaying the release of these records that the public has the right to inspect... A brief summary of events entail:

Superintendent Margo Ferrick SPR24/3386 Page 3 January 6, 2025 [1.] October 11, 2024, was the Original Records Request from Micheal Donahue to Georgetown Public Schools requesting payroll from September 1, 2023 to present and attendance from September 1, 2022 to present. [2.] October 25, 2024, Georgetown School District indicated that they intend to withhold “some” records. In addition, they indicated that there was a fee of $25 dollars needed to complete the records request. [a.] This was fulfilled via personal check and acknowledged by the School Department. [3.] October 30, 2024, the Georgetown School District withheld all attendance records requested. [4.] October 30, 2024, the attendance records withheld was appealed to the Secretary of State by Michael Donahue. [5.] November 14, 2024, the Secretary of State issued a determination favoring the release of attendance records. [6.] November 20, 2024, the Georgetown Public School issued an amended response again refusing to release the attendance records. [7.] November 25, 2024, Michael Donahue appealed the decision again with the Secretary of State regarding the release of attendance records. [6.] December 10, 2024, the Secretary of State issued a determination again favoring the release of attendance records. [7.] December 17, 2024, the Georgetown Public School indicated that they want to charge an additional fee of $200 on top of the prior satisfied fee of $25. The prior good faith estimate was already satisfied and acknowledged. … I kindly ask that the Secretary of State review this Third appeal in its entirety and again urge the Georgetown Public School District to release the records that I have both requested and paid for. The School’s December 17th Response In its December 17, 2024 response, the School provided a fee estimate and stated, “[t]he District has undertaken a review of this request and has determined that the district has records pertaining to this request and the district has estimate the cost to produce the records to be approximately $200. This estimate is based on $25 per hour to download every employee record individually by the time used (Personal, Sick, Vacation, Etc.) The system the district has in place cannot product these records by any other means. The district estimates this to take approximately 8 hours.” G. L. c. 66, § 10(e) G. L. c. 66, § 10(e) provides that “[a] records access officer shall not charge a fee for a public record unless the records access officer responded to the requestor within 10 business days under subsection (b).” I find the School has not met its burden to demonstrate that its December 17, 2024 response was in compliance with G. L. c. 66, § 10(b). Specifically, where Mr. Donahue submitted a request on October 11, 2024, and subsequently paid a fee for records, I

Superintendent Margo Ferrick SPR24/3386 Page 4 January 6, 2025 find the School has not met its burden to demonstrate that its December 17, 2024 response was in compliance with G. L. c. 66, § 10(b). Accordingly, the School may not charge a fee for public records under G. L. c. 66, § 10(e). This office encourages Mr. Donahue and the School to continue to communicate to facilitate providing records more efficiently and affordably. See G. L. c. 66, § 10(b)(vii) (a municipality shall suggest a reasonable modification of the scope of the request or offer to assist the requestor to modify the scope of the request if doing so would enable the municipality to produce records sought more efficiently and affordably). Conclusion Accordingly, the School is ordered to provide Mr. Donahue with a response to the request, provided in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law, and its Regulations within 10 business days. A copy of the 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. Mr. Donahue 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: Michael Donahue