Judge to hear Lehighton email appeal

Carbon County President Judge Roger Nanovic will hear evidence later this year in Lehighton Area School District’s appeal of a state Office of Open Records decision.

Lehighton, in August, appealed the decision directing the release of more than 7,700 emails of Superintendent Jonathan Cleaver and high school building administration.

In an order issued last week, Nanovic said he will hear the case at 9 a.m. Nov. 29 in the Carbon County Courthouse.

According to Cleaver, the appeal is due to “a lack of specificity and the fact that compliance would require violations of other laws including the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.

“I am concerned about the amount of review and time that it takes for staff to go through these type of emails,” Cleaver said.

“There is also a lot of private student information, medical information, that could be involved here. All it takes is one or two mistakes of an accidental release and the district could be on the hook for legal fees because we are being sued.”

School board Director David Bradley requested the emails through a Right To Know request.

Lehighton denied the request, but the Office of Open Records sided with Bradley in his appeal.

Bradley said he is willing to sign an agreement not to disclose any private information contained in the emails that would typically require redaction.

“For the benefit of my community, I requested emails received and sent by very specific people that surround a very specific time period,” Bradley said. “The targets of my inquiry surround events that may or may not have involved nefarious activities within the district. To protect our students, parents and stakeholders involved with our government schools, the laws, specifically laws for transparency, need to be followed.”

Nanovic ordered the district to submit a brief in support of its position by Oct. 12, with Bradley’s brief due to the court by Oct. 31.