Foster v. Pennridge School District, AP 2023-0931 (July 5, 2023). The Office of Open Records determined that a school district properly redacted and withheld certain email chains discussing the school district’s investigation...more
In recent years, the legal rights of transgender students have been litigated in courts around the country. While court decisions have provided some guidance for school districts, many questions remain. This article addresses...more
12/8/2022
/ Equal Protection ,
Gender Dysphoria ,
Gender Identity ,
Parental Rights ,
Public Schools ,
School Districts ,
School Restrooms ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Student Athletes ,
Students ,
Title IX ,
Transgender
C.G. by and through P.G. v. Saucon Valley Sch. Dist., 5:21-CV-03956, 2021 WL 5399920, at *1 (E.D. Pa. Nov. 18, 2021). The District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania grants student’s request for preliminary...more
Methacton Sch. Dist. v. Off. of Open Records of Cmmw., 250 C.D. 2021, 2021 WL 6122163, at *1 (Pa. Cmmw. Dec. 28, 2021). The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania holds that a request for the emails of four individuals over a...more
Mahanoy Area Sch. Dist. v. B. L. by and through Levy, 141 S. Ct. 2038 (2021). The United States Supreme Court holds that while schools can sometimes regulate student speech that takes place off-campus, the school district...more
10/11/2021
/ Educational Institutions ,
First Amendment ,
Free Speech ,
Mahanoy Area School District v B.L. ,
Online Platforms ,
Public Schools ,
School Districts ,
Snapchat ,
Student Speech ,
Students ,
Tinker v Des Moines Independent Community School Dist.
Highlands School District v. Rittmeyer, — A.3d –, 2020 WL 7061810, 163 C.D. 2020 (Pa. Commw. Dec. 3, 2020). Commonwealth Court holds that school districts are not required to disclose the names of employees when issuing a...more
Easton Area Sch. Dist. v. Miller, 232 A.3d 716 (Pa. 2020). Pennsylvania Supreme Court holds that images of students in a school bus surveillance video are “educational records” under FERPA and must be redacted before...more
In Highlands School District v. Rittmeyer, - A.3d -, 2020 WL 7061810, 163 C.D. 2020 (Pa. Commw. Dec. 3, 2020), the Requester submitted two RTKL requests seeking information about employees who were placed on unpaid leave,...more
Section 1307 of the Right-To-Know Law requires the Office of Open Records (“OOR”) to establish a fee schedule for Commonwealth agencies and local agencies like municipalities and school districts. On December 22, 2020, the...more
Coronavirus Disease 2019 (“COVID-19”) is a respiratory illness caused by a novel (new) virus, and we are learning more about it every day. There is currently no vaccine to protect against COVID-19. At this point, the best way...more
In Bradley v. Lehighton Area School District, AP 2019-2068 (Jan. 13, 2019), the OOR confirmed that the scope of videos covered by Act 22 (and, therefore, beyond the reach of the RTKL) is significantly broader than many...more
United Union of Roofers, Waterproofers and Allied Workers, Local Union No. 37 v. North Allegheny School District, et al., 49 C.D. 2018, 2019 WL 5556265 (Pa. Cmwlth. Oct. 29, 2019). Commonwealth Court confirms that school...more
Bell et al. v. Wilkinsburg School District, GD No. 18-012950 (Allegheny Cty. June 27, 2019). The Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County ruled that a school district’s provision of public transit bus passes to elementary...more
In Ruland v. Southern York County School District, AP 2019-0567 (Aug. 8, 2019), the OOR concluded that, in certain circumstances, emails from community members to an agency can be public records.
In this case, the...more
In Galvez v. West York Area School District, AP 2019-0267 (May 15, 2019), a reporter requested a portion of a school bus surveillance video depicting a student altercation. The District denied the request, arguing that the...more
In Guydish v. Crestwood School District, AP 2019-0643, the requester sought copies of the statements of financial interests filed by the school district’s current school board members pursuant to the Public Official and...more
Commonwealth Court Holds That School Surveillance Videos Showing Interactions Between Adults And Students Are Not Education Records Under FERPA and Are Public Records Under The RTKL -
Easton Area Sch. Dist. v. Miller, 191...more
In the previous post we discussed how a “common sense” reason for denying a request (e.g., the requested records are subject to a pending RTKL appeal), was rejected by the OOR because that reason was not supported by the...more
D.M. by Sottosanti-Mack v. Easton Area Sch. Dist., CV 17-1553, 2017 WL 6557560 (E.D. Pa. Dec. 22, 2017). District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania dismisses § 1983 claim that school district violated student’s...more
B.L. by Levy v. Mahanoy Area School District (“Levy”), Case No. 3:17-CV-1734, 2017 WL 4418290 (M.D. Pa. Oct. 5, 2017). District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania grants cheerleader’s Motion for Preliminary...more
Butler Area School District v. Pennsylvanians for Union Reform, 1460 C.D. 2014, 2017 WL 4974552, at *1 (Pa. Cmmw. Nov. 2, 2017). The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania holds that addresses contained in property tax assessment...more
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court recently reversed the Commonwealth Court and held that the Uniformity Clause of the Pennsylvania Constitution does not permit school districts to selectively appeal only the assessments of...more
Highhouse v. Wayne Highlands School District, — F.Supp.3d — 2016 WL 4679012 (M.D. Pa. Sept. 7, 2016): claims relating to unlawful strip search of student accused of stealing money against individual employees and a school...more