SOUTH WHITEHALL TWP., Pa. - Parkland School Board may have violated the state's Open Meetings Law when it appointed a new member Tuesday, a First Amendment lawyer said.
Melissa Melewsky, in-house counsel for the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association, said Wednesday the board’s appointment of former longtime school board director Robert “Bob” Bold to fill the vacancy left by state Sen. Jarrett Coleman violated the Sunshine Act because key discussions did not happen in public.
School board members voted 7-1 Tuesday night to appoint Bold. Board member Patrick Foose was the lone “no” vote.
- Parkland School Board may have violated the state Open Meetings Law, a Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association lawyer said
- A decision about the board's intention to appoint longtime former board director Robert Bold appeared to have happened behind closed doors
- Director Patrick Foose said he would support a lawsuit against the board for the alleged violation
“The process of filling a vacancy in elected office should be entirely public,” Melewsky said. “The school board is stepping into the shoes of the voters and the voters have the right to witness and participate in that process.”
The timeline of events
At the school board's Dec. 20 meeting, Facchiano said the board needed to discuss all of the possibilities for filling the vacancy.
Seven days later, without a public discussion of the possibilities, Parkland School Board sent out a news release saying the board “intends to appoint former School Board Director Robert Bold to fill the vacancy.”
School Board Vacancy Meeting Jan 3 2023 by LVNewsdotcom on Scribd
The board had executive sessions before and after the Dec. 20 meeting, Facchiano said at Tuesday’s meeting. She said that at both executive sessions, “a discussion was held about the process for filling the vacancy on the board.”
Melewsky said the board’s actions violated Pennsylvania’s Sunshine Act, which requires boards to deliberate and take official action in open meetings.
The discussions that led the board to issue the news release announcing its “intention” to appoint Bold should have been public, Melewsky said.
In addition, she said lawmakers changed the law in the 1990s to exclude school boards from being able to discuss filling board seats in an executive session. The Sunshine Act bars discussion of the steps to fill the seat and the act of deciding on a candidate.
The main issue, Melewsky said, is how and when the board decided it intended to appoint Bold.
“The process of filling a vacancy in elected office should be entirely public. The school board is stepping into the shoes of the voters and the voters have the right to witness and participate in that process.”Melissa Melewsky, in-house counsel for the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association
“They still settled on an intended candidate,” she said. “How did they do that if they didn’t have deliberation outside a public meeting.”
Board President Carol Facchiano said during the meeting that the board made no decision nor did it deliberate during its executive sessions.
“Although Bob Bold's name appears on the agenda, there has been no deliberation or official action taken prior to the special meeting on his appointment or the appointment of any other person for the vacant position,” Facchiano said.
“The school board may vote on the agenda item as stated or nominate other persons to be included on the agenda for the board vote to fill the vacancy.”
Parkland School District Solicitor Steven Miller said that during the executive sessions, he walked board members through how they could fill the seat in executive session. He said they had the right to confer with him in private as their attorney.
“Although Bob Bold's name appears on the agenda, there has been no deliberation or official action taken prior to the special meeting on his appointment or the appointment of any other person for the vacant position."Carol Facchiano, Parkland School Board president
The board’s actions also were legal under the Open Meeting Act, Miller said, because of an exemption that says discussing agency business in public could lead to the disclosure of lawfully protected confidential information.
“They are entitled to consult with their lawyer and that’s what they did,” he said.
Melewsky said she disagreed with that interpretation of attorney-client privilege and argued it is not a catch-all to shield board deliberations from public view. Boards can hold private deliberations with their solicitor under the Sunshine Act when facing litigation, she said.
Foose’s dissenting vote
Foose, the only director to vote against Bold’s appointment, also accused the board of violating the Sunshine Act. He said the board made the decision to appoint Bold during its executive session before the Dec. 20 meeting.
Foose did not attend the second executive session. He said he chose not to attend because he felt the board had already made a decision and it was a better use of his time to speak to the reporters after the meeting.
Board Directors David Hein and Marisa Ziegler said a decision had not been made during the first executive session.
Foose said in an interview that he thinks the fact that the release said the board intends to appoint Bold proves a decision had been made outside of an open meeting.
“There was no decision, then there was a decision [seven] days later,” Foose said. “It was made behind closed doors. Otherwise, how would Bob Bold's name be on the agenda?”
Foose said he will not sue the board or the district, but he would support a lawsuit brought against them regarding the actions.
Foose separately argued that the board should have allowed candidates to apply and interview for the position.
Robert Bold
Bold served on Parkland School Board starting in December 1999 after retiring from a 30-year teaching career in the Allentown School District. During Bold’s tenure, he was board president five times and vice president three times. He retired from the board in 2019.
Bold has filled a vacancy on the school board before. He was appointed to fill the vacancy created when Director Marie Maritch resigned in 2021. At that time, Foose voted in favor of Bold filling the vacancy.
Foose said in his statement to the board that while Bold has filled a vacant seat before, this time is different because many people expressed interest in applying.
