Requests for information add up for school districts

Responding to Right To Know requests is a part of the job Lehighton Area School District officials say they take seriously, but it’s also becoming a costly one.

Lehighton solicitor William Schwab said last week it will be his recommendation that the business office specifically start budgeting a certain amount for the cost it takes to fill the requests for public documents.

When Pennsylvania’s Right To Know law, which was adopted in 2008, was in its infancy, Schwab said, the district only received a handful of requests each month. That amount, however, has increased dramatically.

“It’s to the point where I’m talking to the district’s RTK officer about five to six times a week,” Schwab said. “We’re not the only agency getting hit. Every day it is something new.”

Schwab said one of the biggest issues is most of the requests aren’t coming from local residents.

Nineteen of the last 20 RTK requests in Lehighton came from commercial outfits from New Jersey and Florida, among other states.

“They’re usually asking for all kinds of tax documents, some of which we have and some of which we don’t,” Schwab said. “It can become a little excessive for these commercial companies and nonprofit agencies who are looking for things for a political venture.”

In nearby Palmerton Area School District, administrators are facing the same issue.

“We frequently receive Right To Know requests from out of state and/or commercial companies that would seem to have no legitimate interests in the Palmerton Area School District,” Business Manager Ryan Kish said. “Unfortunately, RTK requests have been increasing, as have the costs and human resource hours needed to comply with these requests.”

Lehighton’s Business Manager Brian Feick said the district does not currently break out how much it spends fulfilling RTK requests.

“We may eventually have to look at a deputy RTK officer or something like that to free up our RTK officer for some of her other duties,” Feick said.

The district estimates around 20 hours a week are spent responding to commercial RTK requests.

Calling himself a former newspaper man, Schwab said he is in no way saying the district should not respond.

“I believe strongly in making those documents available and we will continue to do that in the most timely manner we can,” he said. “The research, though, does take some time.”

The RTK law allows for districts to charge only for paper copies of material, not for research time.

Most of the requests, Schwab added, have been for electronic copies, meaning there is no money the district can recoup.