Highlands delays release of resignation agreement with employee facing disciplinary charges

Highlands School District is delaying the release of a resignation agreement with an unidentified employee against whom the school board had brought disciplinary charges.

The school board voted at its Dec. 7 meeting to approve the agreement with an employee identified only by the number 6093. The agreement was retroactively effective to Dec. 1.

The board approved a statement of disciplinary charges against an employee identified by the same number at its Oct. 19 meeting.

The Tribune-Review filed a request under the state’s Right to Know Law on Oct. 20 for the employee’s name, job title or position, length of employment, salary and, if applicable, contract. After invoking a 30-day extension to respond, the district denied the newspaper’s request.

The Tribune-Review filed a Right to Know request Dec. 8 for the resignation agreement. The district was required to respond within five business days, setting a deadline of Tuesday.

On Tuesday, the district said it needed 30 additional days to respond. It said it could not respond sooner. Because of staffing limitations, it needed more time to conduct a legal review to determine if the agreement should be made public and “the extent or nature of the request precludes a response within the required time period.”

In the letter signed by district business Manager Lori Byron, the district said it expects to respond to the newspaper’s request on or before Jan. 14.

In refusing to release the employee’s name and employment information, the district argues the records containing that information are exempt from release because:

• They constitute information regarding discipline, demotion or discharge contained in a personnel file.

• They constitute written criticism of an employee.

• They relate to a noncriminal investigation.

• and the state Constitution “guarantees individuals the right to informational privacy.”

Melissa Melewsky, media law counsel with the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association, said the school district should have announced the employee’s name at the public meeting before the vote was taken and provided the records without delay.

“If not before the charges vote, then certainly before the resignation agreement vote,” Melewsky said.

“The Sunshine Act requires agencies to provide a meaningful opportunity for public comment before all votes so that the public can understand the proposed action and provide meaningful comment before a decision is made,” she said. “The public can’t provide meaningful comment if they don’t know who is subject to the vote.”

Public employee names, job titles, salary and all employment-related contracts are public records and must be provided, Melewsky said.

“The resignation agreement sets out the rights and legal duties of the school district, and it is an employment contract. Its terms are public, and the law is very clear on this point,” she said. “Erecting administrative barriers to access is unreasonable, in conflict with the law and harms the public trust.”