The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) recently issued a decision in Champa v. Town of Weston Public Schools, which vacates a prior decision of the superior court and balances the public’s right of access to government records with a student’s right to individual privacy and the confidentiality of student records. 2015 WL 6394201 (Oct. 23, 2015). The issue in Champa was whether settlement agreements between a public school and the parents of a public school student requiring special education services are “public records” or exempt from disclosure. On cross motions for judgment on the pleadings, a superior court judge concluded that the agreements were “public records,” rather than “education records” and that they were not exempt from disclosure under the state’s public records law pursuant to either exemption (a) (statutory exemption) or exemption (c) (“unwarranted invasion of personal privacy”). Weston appealed and the SJC transferred the case from the Appeals Court on its own initiative.
The SJC concluded that the agreements between a public school and parents of students who require special education services, including placements in out-of-district private educational institutions, are exempt from the definition of public records under both the statutory (a) and privacy (c) exemptions to the public records law. The Court further concluded that personally identifiable information in the agreements may be redacted, and that when properly redacted to remove personally identifiable information, they are subject to disclosure under G.L. c. 66, § 10 of the Massachusetts public records law. The inclusion of a confidentiality clause in the agreement does not prohibit its disclosure.
“Person
ally identifiable information” includes not only the student’s name and date of birth, but other information that read alone or in the context of the agreement can be linked to a specific student or used to identify that student. The Court advised that “
