Belmont, Math Parents v. Belmont, Town of - Public Schools (SPR 20260461)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records February 24, 2026 SPR26/0461 Artemis Tingos Executive Assistant to the Superintendent Belmont Public Schools 644 Pleasant Street Belmont, MA 02478 Dear Ms. Tingos: I have received the petition of Belmont Math Parents (requestor) appealing the response of Belmont Public Schools (School) to a request for public records. See G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On October 3, 2025, the requestor sought, “[a]ll emails, texts and messages between [two identified individuals] . . . and/or [an identified individual] from January 1, 2024 to September 1, 2024 regarding math placement, Challenger Geometry, MDTP.” It is my understanding that the School assigned this request reference number 25-1310. The School initially responded on October 3, 2025, providing a fee estimate. Previous Appeal This request was the subject of a previous appeal. See SPR25/3166 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (November 7, 2025). In my November 7th determination, I ordered the School to revise its fee estimate or provide further explanation of how the fees assessed are consistent with G. L. c. 66, § 10(d). The School responded on November 14, 2025. Unsatisfied with the School’s response, the requestor petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR26/0461, 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). 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

Artemis Tingos SPR26/0461 Page 2 February 24, 2026 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 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 under a petition under G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv). G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iii); 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4). The School’s Fee Estimate In its initial October 3, 2025 response, the School provided a total fee estimate of $891.50 and provided the following information to support of its fee estimate: If collecting, preparing, and redacting the requested documents will take more than two (2) hours, the Town may charge for the wages of the lowest-paid employee who can perform the research/copying or redacting work, up to $25 per hour. The first two (2) hours of labor are free. Total Hours, separated by task to be performed to fulfill the request . . . : Number of hours[:] [0].16 x $ 25 (maximum $25 per hour) = $4, performing the following task: Searching for the records Number of hours[:] 35.5 x $ 25 (maximum $25 per hour) = $887.50 performing the following task: Segregating the Records, Reviewing for Responsiveness, Uploading, Redacting 450 emails to review@ 5 minutes each = 2250 minutes or 37.5 hrs. First 2 hours are free. 35.66 hours of work. TOTAL good faith estimated fee for fulfillment of your Public Records Request is $891.50. In its November 14, 2025 response, the School providing the following additional clarification: The .16 hours indicated in the invoice refers to the time it takes the Technology Department to search and generate a group of emails using the search parameters. The system is not a sophisticated one and this search results in a .pst formatted

Artemis Tingos SPR26/0461 Page 3 February 24, 2026 group. The remaining fee estimates deal with reviewing for responsiveness, uploading, redacting etc. The .pst folder is shared with the ROA who must then extract the files using an email program which takes several minutes. Each individual email must then be reviewed for responsiveness to the request, then if found to be responsive converted into a .pdf, placed on the desktop and then uploaded into the Next Request system. Once in the NextRequest system, emails are redacted if needed. The redaction time varies, depending on the amount of redaction needed in each email and most recently have included reason (c) minors and outside individuals and (l) test, examination or assessment information. As the requestor specified themselves in their October 30, 2025, email to you, “Because the town’s system requires us to access each file individually, download it, and then email it to you, it is a time-consuming process...” The same applies to the process the ROA must go through in order to reply to email search requests and upload the emails into the NextRequest system for release to the requestor. Each email varies in length from one page to several (14 pages). The maximum fee of $25 per hour is the lowest rate for an employee capable of performing the tasks involved in producing the records. Provided estimates have included two hours free work. Current Appeal In the appeal petition, the requestor argued that the School did not sufficiently revise its fee estimate. 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

Artemis Tingos SPR26/0461 Page 4 February 24, 2026 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). Reasonableness of the Fee Estimate Although the School maintains that it will take 0.16 hours to search for the records and 35.5 hours for “Segregating the Records, Reviewing for Responsiveness, Uploading, [and] Redacting” the records, it is not clear from the School’s estimate why the School requires this much time. Particularly, it is unclear why the School requires five minutes per email for review. While the School may charge for time spent searching, segregating, and redacting the records, it remains unclear whether this estimate includes time spent to perform the additional production tasks listed in its November 14, 2025 response. As such, the School must clarify how it may assess a fee for these tasks under G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iii). See G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv) (requiring the amount of the fee be reasonable). Further, where the School indicates that it intends to redact the responsive records, it must clarify if the redactions are required by law, and state the applicable statutes, if any. Pursuant to the Public Records Law, a fee may 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)(ii); 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4). Accordingly, where no such petition has been approved, the School’s fee estimate may not include time spent for segregation and redaction under Exemptions (c) and (l) of the Public Records Law, which are not “required by law.” The School must clarify these matters. For the reasons discussed above, I find the School must revise its fee estimate or provide further explanation of how the fee estimate of $891.50 is consistent with G. L. c. 66, § 10(d). This office encourages the parties to communicate to facilitate providing records more efficiently and affordably. The requestor may wish to narrow the request. 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. Conclusion Accordingly, the School is ordered to provide the requestor 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. The requestor may appeal the substantive nature of the School’s response within ninety (90) days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1).

Artemis Tingos SPR26/0461 Page 5 February 24, 2026 Sincerely, Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records cc: Belmont Math Parents