John Hilliard v. Executive Office of Education (SPR 20250926)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records April 11, 2025 SPR25/0926 Abigail Fee, Esq. General Counsel and Records Access Officer Executive Office of Education One Ashburton Place, Room 1403 Boston, MA 02108 Dear Attorney Fee: I have received the petition of John Hilliard, of the Boston Globe, appealing the nonresponse of the Executive Office of Education (Office) to a request for public records. See G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On March 19, 2025, Mr. Hilliard requested “. . . [a]ll e-mails, cell phone text messages, or instant messages (i.e. Slack) sent or received by [an identified individual] from January 20, 2025, to the present with any of the following search terms in the message body, subject line, or any address fields. . .” Claiming to not yet have received responsive records, Mr. Hilliard petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR25/0926, was opened as a result. In an email dated April 8, 2025, the Office responded “... [E]OE has run searches for responsive documents and intends to produce documents in response to the request.” Accordingly, the Department is ordered to provide Mr. Hilliard with said response to his 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. Mr. Hilliard may appeal the substantive nature of the Department’s response within ninety (90) days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). 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

Abigail Fee, Esq. SPR25/0926 Page 2 April 11, 2025 Sincerely, Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records cc: John Hilliard