Today the Supreme Judicial Court held that charter schools within Massachusetts are subject to the state’s public record laws.
This case requires us to decide whether a “[C]ommonwealth charter school,” as defined by G. L. c. 71, § 89 (c), is subject to the Massachusetts public records law, G. L. c. 66, § 10.
The justices conclude
that Commonwealth charter schools…are “agencies” subject to the public records law. As a matter of statutory interpretation, a Commonwealth charter school qualifies as an “authority established by the general court to serve a public purpose,” G. L. c. 4, § 7, Twenty-sixth, and therefore falls squarely within the class of governmental entities expressly covered by the public records law.
The full text of the opinion is attached below.