Norwin won't attempt to retrieve deleted videos, may consider new records policy
A North Huntingdon resident’s attempt to get Norwin School District to spend money on retrieving deleted school board meeting videos has been denied.
Bill Bojalad, board president, said last week there is no support among board members to hire a data recovery company to try to find the videos that were deleted this year. The videos, which included audio recordings, were previously available on Norwin’s YouTube channel, which now has videos of board meetings only from this year. The deleted videos were of meetings from 2020, when pandemic restrictions were put in place, through 2024.
Bojalad said the official meeting minutes, recorded by board secretary Leslie DeZorzi, are thorough and serve as a complete record of the meetings.
Dustin Logue, 24, had suggested the district hire a data recovery firm after his Right-to-Know request for copies of the videos was denied in July. Norwin denied his request on the grounds that it couldn’t produce videos it no longer had. The Pennsylvania Office of Open Records upheld the district’s decision last month, stating that Norwin is not required to produce records it does not possess. Logue could not be reached for comment on the district’s decision.
The videos were deleted March 6, Norwin solicitor Andrew Evankovich said. There were no emails, texts or other communications among the district’s leadership team about the decision to delete them.
In his appeal, Logue also requested communications and policies regarding the deletion of records. Evankovich stated Norwin does not have a records retention policy that governs a schedule for retaining records.
Logue said he was not surprised the Office of Open Records denied his appeal, “given that the district did give their ‘best effort’ to provide the requested records, which were illegally deleted.” He noted that the decision was about the extent of what the Office of Open Records could do.
District solicitor Russell Lucas said a new records policy would pertain to more than just board meeting videos, including student records.
Neither Bojalad nor McCracken speculated on when a revised records policy might be considered.
The board is in the second year of a comprehensive policy review process.
Joe Napsha is a TribLive reporter covering Irwin, North Huntingdon and the Norwin School District. He also writes about business issues. He grew up on Neville Island and has worked at the Trib since the early 1980s. He can be reached at jnapsha@triblive.com.
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