Shelly Jones v. North Middlesex Regional School District (SPR 20250050)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records January 9, 2024 SPR24/0050 Robin Eibye Records Access Officer North Middlesex Regional School District 66 Brookline Street Townsend, MA 01469 Dear Ms. Eibye: On January 7, 2025, this office received your petition on behalf of the North Middlesex Regional School District (School/District) seeking permission to waive statutory limits to fees and to charge for time spent segregating or redacting responsive records. G. L. c. 66, § 10(c); G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4). As required by law, it is my understanding that the School furnished a copy of the petition to the requestor, Shelly Jones. G. L. c. 66, § 10(c); G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv)(2). On January 6, 2025, Ms. Jones requested “emails and texts between the superintendent and the following [five identified] school committee members… between 11/18-11/24. Petition to assess fees – Municipalities The Supervisor may approve a petition from a municipality to charge for time spent segregating or redacting or to charge in excess of $25 per hour, if the Supervisor determines that 1) the request is for a commercial purpose or 2) the fee represents an actual and good faith representation by the municipality to comply with the request. G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv). In rendering such a decision, the Supervisor is required to consider the following: a) the public interest served by limiting the cost of public access to the records; b) the financial ability of the requestor to pay the additional or increased fees; and c) any other relevant extenuating circumstances. G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv). The statute sets out a two-prong test for determining whether the Supervisor may approve a municipality’s petition to allow the municipality to charge for time spent segregating or redacting records or to charge in excess of $25 an hour for the provision of public records. The first prong is whether the request for records was made for a commercial purpose. G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv). It is my understanding that this request was not made for a commercial purpose. 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

Robin Eibye SPR25/0050 Page 2 January 9, 2025 The second prong of the test is whether the fee represents an actual and good faith representation by the municipality to comply with the request. The Supervisor must consider 1) if the fee is necessary such that the request could not have been prudently completed without the redaction or segregation or fee in excess of $25 per hour; 2) the amount of the fee is reasonable; and 3) the fee is not designed to limit, deter or prevent access to requested public records. Id. Petitions seeking a waiver of statutory limits to fees assessed to segregate and/or redact public records must be made within ten business days after receipt of a request for public records. 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4)(g). Fee Estimates – Municipalities A municipality may assess a reasonable fee for the production of a public record except those records that are freely available for public inspection. G. L. c. 66, § 10(d). The fees must reflect the actual cost of complying with a particular request. Id. A maximum fee of five cents ($.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 2 (two) 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). Petition to Assess Fees In its petition, in addition to charging for segregation and redaction required by law under Exemption (a) and the attorney-client privilege, the School argues the following in support of its request to charge for segregation and redaction under Exemptions (c), (o), and (p) of the Public Records Law: Exemption (c) The requested documents contain materials or data relating to a specifically named individual, the disclosure of which may constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy. In particular, the records likely contain personal contact information for individuals involved in the requested communications. It is understood that personal phone numbers and email addresses may be withheld pursuant to Exemption (c). See SPR 13/077. Moreover, community members will occasionally share personal circumstances

Robin Eibye SPR25/0050 Page 2 January 9, 2025 with Committee members and the Superintendent which may qualify as an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy. Exemption (o); Exemption (p) The requested documents may contain the home and/or personal email address and/or home telephone numbers of District employees or family members of District employees that have received payment/s from the District. Based on the information provided in its fee petition, I find the School has met its burden to explain how, given the nature of the responsive records, the request could not prudently be completed without segregation or redaction. See G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv). Fee in Excess of $25.00 per Hour In its petition, the School requests to charge a fee of $75.00 per hour, and provides the following in support of its request: Accordingly, the District seeks to assess higher fees for time spent redacting records that fall within statutory exemptions beyond Exemption (a) of G.L. c. 4, §7(26) given the likelihood that the aforementioned categories of information need to be redacted. Specifically, the District seeks approval to charge an hourly rate of $75 per hour spent redacting, an amount typically approved by your office in response to fee petitions of this nature. Any time spent searching for compiling and segregating documents would be charged at the rate of $25 an hour. The redaction of the requested documents requires both knowledge in law and knowledge of the facts at issue. Accordingly, this redaction cannot be performed by a District employee; rather, it must be completed by legal counsel for the District. In particular, the records requested must be reviewed and redacted by an individual who is knowledgeable, well-versed and trained in case law responsive to Exemptions (a), (c), (o) and (p) and specifically, how the Supervisor of Public Records and courts have interpreted the type of information that may be redacted and applying those decisions to the requested record. The hourly rate associated with the lowest paid employee who has the necessary skill required to perform this task is $250 per hour. The District estimates that because of the voluminous amount of information exempt under G.L. c. 4, §7(26) contained within the requested information, it will take an average of one minute to review and redact each page. This number is based on the need to carefully read each page, make the necessary determinations regarding whether the record contains exempt information, redact any confidential information contained in the records if found, and the possibility that other individuals may need to be consulted throughout this process.

Robin Eibye SPR25/0050 Page 2 January 9, 2025 The purpose of assessing fees is to simply offset the costs that will be charged to the District in responding to this request and ensure that the District can properly redact information as required by G.L. c. 4, §7(26). In light of the School’s petition, I find the School has partially met its burden to explain how, given the nature of the responsive records, the request could not prudently be completed without assessing a fee in excess of $25.00 per hour. See G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv). The School may assess an hourly rate limited to $75.00 for attorney review for segregation and redaction under the attorney-client privilege. However, the School may not assess a fee in excess of $25.00 per hour for other tasks. G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iii). Conclusion Accordingly, to the extent the responsive records contain the exempt information as described above, the School may assess a fee for segregation and redaction. Further, while the School may assess a fee limited to the hourly rate of $75.00 for attorney review, the School may not assess a fee in excess of $25.00 for other tasks. Please note, Ms. Jones has the right to seek judicial review of this decision by commencing a civil action in the appropriate superior court. See G. L. c. 66, §§ 10A(c). Sincerely, Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records cc: Shelly Jones