Rose, Bonnie v. Taunton, City of - Public Schools (SPR 20260339)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records February 17, 2026 SPR26/0339 Brenda Moynihan Records Access Officer Taunton Public Schools 215 Harris Street Taunton, MA 02780 Dear Ms. Moynihan: I have received the petition of Bonnie Rose appealing the response of the Taunton 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 January 19, 2026, Ms. Rose requested numerous records, and following further correspondence with the School, on January 25, 2026, clarifies her request for the following: Please confirm whether Taunton Public Schools possesses any of the following records for FY2023, FY2024, or FY2025: • Independent auditor reports, schedules, or school-department-specific audit materials • Auditor management letters addressed to Taunton Public Schools • Internal control findings or material weakness findings related to the school department • Corrective Action Plans (CAPs) or written responses prepared by Taunton Public Schools in response to audit findings • Correspondence between the district and the City, auditors, or DESE related to audit findings or financial controls[.] The School responded on January 30, 2026, providing a fee estimate. Unsatisfied with the School’s response, and objecting to the fees, Ms. Rose petitioned this office, and this appeal, SPR26/0339, was opened as a result. Subsequent to the opening of this appeal, in an email to this office and the School on February 2, 2026, Ms. Rose further elaborated on her appeal. In an email to Ms. Rose and this office on February 4, 2026, an attorney for the School provided a further response. 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

Brenda Moynihan SPR26/0339 Page 2 February 17, 2026 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 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. Attorney 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 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). Current Appeal In her appeal petition, Ms. Rose requests that this office “determine that the District’s fee assessment is not permitted under the Public Records Law; Order Taunton Public Schools to

Brenda Moynihan SPR26/0339 Page 3 February 17, 2026 produce all non-exempt responsive records without a fee; and Require the District to provide a clear and lawful explanation for any records withheld or redacted, citing specific statutory exemptions.” The School’s January 30th and February 4th Fee Estimate In its January 30, 2026 response, the School provides a total fee estimate of $50, and provides the following information in support of its fee estimate: As an initial matter, Taunton Public Schools objects to your public record requests to the extent they seek attorney work product, attorney-client privileged communication, or are exempt from disclosure pursuant to the privacy implications pursuant to exemption (c), or the documents exempted from disclosure by statute pursuant to exemption (a). Because we are a public District, searches of our email system often return emails about students. Information about a particular student and information which identifies or could be used to identify a particular student is exempt from public disclosure pursuant to M.G.L. c.4, §7(26)(a), which exempts all information specifically or by necessary implication exempted from disclosure by statute, with the relevant statutory authority being M.G.L. c.71, §§34D and 34E, as implemented through 603 CMR 23.07(4), and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA), 20 U.S.C. §1232g. Given the scope of your requests, we expect additional exempt information may be discovered during the course of review of the potentially responsive records, including without limitation executive session materials, and investigatory materials, and the District reserves the right to assert any other applicable exemption as it deems appropriate during the course of its review and response. Given the scope of your request, and the nature of the effort required to respond, the District requires the clearance of your payment in full of the following reasonable fee, calculated as a good faith fee estimate in accordance with public records law as set forth herein, prior to the District’s disclosure of responsive records. The District reserves the right to assess fees in accordance with this request or any future request, as permitted by applicable law and based on a good faith fee estimate. See M.G.L. c. 66, § 10(d); 950 CMR 32.07(2). The District requires a fee of $50 to recover the cost of complying with your record request. This fee is assessed where there are voluminous responsive records and where the District will need to search for, compile, segregate, redact and reproduce the records. This fee is a good faith estimate excluding the first two hours of time spent complying with the request, and is itemized as follows: (1) 3 hours to locate and review all responsive records, (2) .75 hours to segregate and redact protected portions pursuant to exemption (a), the statutory exemption, and

Brenda Moynihan SPR26/0339 Page 4 February 17, 2026 (3) .25 hours to produce and/or compile the records for production. Where the District administrative employee, legal counsel, and leadership would all be responsible for the review and redaction of the responsive records, any all the individuals identified hourly rate exceeds the statutory maximum set by 950 C.M.R. 32.07(2)(m) (i.e., $25.00/hour), the hourly fee for such time spent complying with your request is $25.00. The District is unable to comply with your public record request until we receive payment of this estimated fee. In its February 4th response, the School further explains the following: The assessed fee is appropriate and authorized by law. Pursuant to G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iii), where a municipality is required to devote more than two hours of employee time to search for, compile, segregate, redact, or reproduce requested records, the Records Access Officer may assess a fee. The statute permits an hourly rate not to exceed $25 and expressly prohibits the assessment of fees for the first two hours of work. The District’s fee assessment complies with these statutory requirements. Reasonableness of the Fee Estimate In its fee estimate, the School has explained that it will not charge fees for the first two hours of work, has explained that it will charge at an hourly rate equal to or less than the hourly rate attributed to the lowest paid employees who have the necessary skills to complete the tasks. Additionally, the School has confirmed that it will only assess fees for segregation and redaction required by law. However, based on the information provided in the School’s January 30th and February 4th responses, it is unclear why the School requires the amounts of time described above to locate, segregate and redact, reproduce and compile, the responsive records. Particularly, it is unclear how many records the School intends to redact and the number of pages there are. It is additionally uncertain how many minutes per page the School requires to review the responsive records. The School must provide additional information regarding the tasks involved in the search process. Accordingly, the School must provide further details regarding its fee estimate. See G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv) (requiring the amount of the fee be reasonable). Conclusion Accordingly, the School is ordered to provide Ms. Rose with a response to the 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. Ms. Rose may further appeal the substantive nature of the School’s response within ninety (90) days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1).

Brenda Moynihan SPR26/0339 Page 5 February 17, 2026 Sincerely, Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records cc: Bonnie Rose Tom Delmar, Esq.