Joseph W. Ford v. Attleboro, City of - Public Schools (SPR 20251056)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records April 25, 2025 SPR25/1056 David Sawyer Superintendent Attleboro Public School District 100 Rathbun Willard Drive Attleboro, MA 02703-2799 Dear Superintendent Sawyer: I have received the petition of Joseph Ford appealing the response of the Attleboro Public School District (District) to a request for public records. See G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On February 19, 2025, Mr. Ford requested six categories of records relating to special education staffing and alternative communication devices. Prior Appeal This request was the subject of a prior appeal. See SPR25/0822 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (April 1, 2025). In my April 1st determination, I found that the District intended to provide Mr. Ford with a further response, and ordered it to do so within ten business days. The District provided a response on April 15, 2025. Unsatisfied with the District’s response, Mr. Ford petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR25/1056, 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, 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

David Sawyer SPR25/1056 Page 2 April 25, 2025 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). The District’s April 15th Response In its April 15, 2025, response, the District assessed a fee of $2,875.00 to provide Mr. Ford with two hundred pages of “Mandated Reporting Logs for Special Education Incidents (January 2023 – Present)[.]” The District estimated that “… it would take fifty-two (52) hours to search for the requested records and sixty-three (63) hours to segregate and redact the requested documents.” The District further stated that it was required to redact responsive records pursuant to “… M.G.L. c. 4, § 7(26)(a), and FERPA, M.G.L c. 71, §§ 34D, 34E, and 603 CMR § 23.00.” The District also confirmed that the lowest paid employee with the skill necessary to respond to the request is compensated at a rate greater than $25.00 per hour. 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 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).

David Sawyer SPR25/1056 Page 3 April 25, 2025 Reasonableness of the Fee Estimate Although the District has estimated that the process of compiling, reviewing, and preparing responsive documents for production will take 52 hours of search time and 63 hours of segregation and redaction time, the District has not provided sufficient explanation of why this amount of employee time is necessary. The District must provide additional information regarding the tasks involved in producing the responsive records. For the reasons discussed above, I find the District must revise its fee estimate or provide further explanation of how the fee of $2,875.00 assessed in its April 15, 2025 estimate is consistent with G. L. c. 66, § 10(d). This office encourages Mr. Ford and the District to communicate further in order 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 the records sought more efficiently and affordably). Any revision to the request would result in the requirement to issue a revised fee estimate. G. L. c. 66, § 10A(a) Please be advised that the Office of the Supervisor of Records is statutorily empowered with the authority to determine the public record status of government records. See G. L. c. 66, § 10. In compliance with the Public Records Law, the Supervisor of Records may only issue determinations where a violation of G. L. c. 66, § 10 has been alleged. See G. L. c. 66, § 10A(a). Where the alleged violation of the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act does not constitute a violation of G. L. c. 66,§ 10A(a), I am unable to address such issues in this determination. Conclusion Accordingly, the District is ordered to provide Mr. Ford 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. Mr. Ford may appeal the substantive nature of the District’s response within ninety days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1).

David Sawyer SPR25/1056 Page 4 April 25, 2025 Sincerely, Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records cc: Joseph Ford Michael J. Joyce, Esq.