Lehighton board member won’t get video, audio
A school board member seeking video footage and audio recordings from the Lehighton Area School District administration building will not get it via a Right To Know request, the Pennsylvania Office of Open Records ruled last week.
Director David Bradley requested “raw video or still image file records from the cameras located in the administration building’s board room and lobby between 5:30 p.m. and 11 p.m. on Sept. 30, 2019.”
Lehighton had a school board meeting at 7 p.m. on Sept. 30, preceded by an executive session at 6:15 p.m. for contract negotiations and personnel purposes.
The district denied the request and the OOR, on Jan. 10, denied Bradley’s appeal due to “a lack of jurisdiction.”
Melanie Windhorn, Lehighton’s open records officer; Patricia Denicola, district business manager and board secretary; and Peter Salerno, school police officer, submitted affidavits to the OOR as part of the appeal process.
By employing two police officers, the district argued, it is now considered a law enforcement agency, making it exempt from having to release the video recordings.
In denying Bradley’s request, the district argued that the recordings were from security cameras and disclosure would threaten infrastructure security. It also said no audio recordings from the date in question exist.
Though it said it does not have jurisdiction over Act 22, which establishes guidelines for requesting audio and video recordings in the possession of law enforcement, the OOR encouraged the district to exercise its discretion in deciding whether to release the recordings.
“Act 22 vests agencies with broad discretion to release recordings which are in the public interest,” OOR appeals officer Blake Eilers wrote. “Given the circumstance of this matter, the OOR encourages the district to reconsider exercising its discretion in releasing the responsive records, especially since there appears to be no basis for withholding the requested records under Act 22.”
Comments
Hmm, did this district just make another district sponsored argument described as absurd?
Sincerely,
Citizen David F. Bradley Sr
Sounds to me the like another win.
The district just spent money to identify itself as a law enforcement agency, and refuted the claim, my claim that our government's public schools are educational facilities.
More reasons to ensure we preserve the rights of all students our students, they should have the same rights in these public government schools as they have a they have in the public park, or public library.
Victims and perpetrators alike, should has all the rights every U S citizen was provided, earned by the blood, sweat and tears of those that gave some, and those that gave all.
Our government schools are failing to protect the students and save the community. One more step closer to fixing it.
Corrupt governments take time, be patient, will get there.
Sincerely,
Citizen David F. Bradley Sr.
Do you think the district will have time to erase these videos prior to an act 22 record request, or will the records be preserved.
Sincerely,
Citizen David F. Bradley Sr.
So, is the LASD an education agency or law enforcement agency?
Sincerely,
Citizen David F. Bradley Sr.
Two years to finalize the fix. Be patient. Lawful transparency is free fighting a cost money.
End the corruption, finish my term, change mascot prior to impending litigation like other districts, establish and reinforce the government of by and for the people.
Protect the students and save the community.
Sincerely,
Citizen David F. Bradley Sr.
Good afternoon. I seek your input.
Do you anticipate the charges, (if any, of course), will be released on Friday?
The alleged injuries to students were heinous. Do you feel the information already publically released by Superintendent Jonathan Cleaver's office regarding the protection of students needs to be reviewed by the district board? (In a formal public meeting of course).
Compliance with the Sunshine Act and all.
Do you feel it is possible for the district administration to be in complete compliance with existing policies, and still have activities to occur that result is serious student injuries?
According to the policies, the law at the local level, the board has a responsibility to maintain compliance with regard to processing any and all formal written complaint filed with the board.
So, do you blindly-trust your board, or would you like lawful transparency and your oversight to ensure proper lawful compliance?
What? No special meeting, still? Three directors submitted formal requests. PA School Code 426.
What, no announcement pertaining to the apparent formal written complaint sent to the board and administration?
Hmm.
I have to ask, do you think the rubber stampers are going to give their blind trust to the very administration they were elected to oversee even when student safety is involved?
To the best of my knowledge, the board is responsible to ensure the policies and procedures, the law in the district, are properly followed. Accountability is the key. In this system, it is the stakeholders that have the authority to hold their government accountable.
Given the alleged incident and announcement from the Superintendent that police were involved, it is pretty obvious the policies and procedures need to be reviewed. After all, if we have incident(s) in our schools requiring police involvement, we as a community should be questioning the policies and/or their implementation, right?
The children should be at their safest while attending all our government's public school. We have a massive number of teachers, two police officers, coaches, government staff and fellow students all trained and expected to look after each other and the safety of every student. A Safe2Say program, and laws regarding mandated reporting all represent a civic responibility to protect the students.
Any child injury is a tragedy worth preventing, even out playgrounds are as safe as possible.
What, I believe to be, Tribe Pride, should be a lawfully transparent process, allowing parents, administration, staff, and mandated reporters all the freedom, authority and responsibility and support to protect the students.
If the district directors engage the stakeholders as required by LASD policy 011, and followed PA School Code, honoring their oath, we should be safe right? In my opinion, instead of providing a rubber stamp, or their blind trust, a focus on proper oversight and the proper protection of students should be provided by the government schools and their governing board.
Sincerely, please, provide your input here. Until the Board President meets his responsibility to call a special meeting, thus allowing the hundreds who signed petitions to have their fair say, this may be all we have.
Sincerely,
Citizen David F. Bradley Sr.
When you start making it about the kids and not about you, you might succeed. Might.
Joe
It was always been about protecting the students and saving the community. The victimization, and waste rips my heart out. Those drum beaters hiding behind "the kids" as they do evil are the enemy I seek to expose.
The kids, as you say, are not the driver in the consumption of the district resources, and the test scores show the lack of effective learning. Improve these metrics and I have shifted the course for decades to come.
This mission was never about me. I took it on, on behalf of my friend Bill Hill. I freely take the attacks as a badge of honor. By exposing the evil for what it is, we will win. We all offer our suffering to all those seeking a lawful government, anything less is an insult to all those that served.
My primary goal is to ensure the students have the same rights in our schools as the have in the community. Efficiency is the second. Anything less is just unAmerican.
Sincerely,
Citizen David F. Bradley Sr.
The legacy of debt incurred by the votes of board members was sad for a community that has a large number of seniors.
Larry Stern and Wayne Wentz voted for the budget increase, a tax increase and now hide from accountability of the stakeholders by not calling a special meeting to help protect the students.
Sincerely,
Citizen David F. Bradley Sr.
This is another example of just how desperate the government is to obscure and obstruct transparency. They, President Larry Stern and his Rubber-stamping majority, chose to spend educational money on the 'law enforcement agency" defense.
The immoral board blocked a special meeting. The children suffer, the staff lose credibility, and the district fails to properly protect all the students.
Just imagine being an employee under such regime. When your family needs the money, how much suffering could you watch, sit idle and just swallow? I feel bad for the honorable staff.
Eager to see this regime end in the spotlight of lawful transparency.
Sincerely,
Citizen David F. Bradley Sr.
I want to hear what you think as stakeholders, after all this is you district. We are here to do your will. - Public servants
I Iike the latter,
Sincerely,
Citizen David F. Bradley Sr.