No written policy on ceremony attendance
Pottsville Republican-Herald
STAFF REPORTS
The Shenandoah Valley school board never voted on the policy used to keep a Republican-Herald reporter out of Shenandoah Valley High School’s 2009 graduation ceremony, according to an open records request response received by the newspaper Wednesday.
"The lack of a written policy leads to problems just like we’re seeing," Pennsylvania Newspaper Association counsel Melissa Melewsky said in a telephone interview Thursday. "Policy should be written down, should be clear and should be voted on at a public meeting."
A Republican-Herald reporter was escorted off school property at the Shenandoah Valley High School when attempting to cover the June 1 graduation ceremony.
On June 10, The Republican-Herald filed an open records request for copies of the policy in question in accordance with the state’s Right-to-Know Law.
The first paragraph submitted under the "Records Requested" section of the request read, in full: "Complete school district policies relating to attendance regulations for the June 1, 2009, graduation ceremony at the Shenandoah Valley High School, including but not limited to regulations regarding admission tickets, overflow seating for non-ticket holders and attendance by members of the press."
School district solicitor Michael A. O’Pake answered in a written response received Wednesday. The statement read "Please be advised that there are no documents responsive to your request as contained in the first paragraph."
In response to the second paragraph, which requested the agenda and minutes for any school board meetings at which the policies discussed in the first paragraph were discussed or acted on, O’Pake wrote that the minutes for the May 27 meeting would be forwarded upon their approval at the June meeting Wednesday.
In a written statement issued June 6, Superintendent Stanley G. Rakowsky said he was using the "authority to initiate necessary procedures in circumstances not provided for in specific Board policy" granted to him as the CEO as appointed by the school board directors.
"It sounds like he had a catch-all kind of authority, and I don’t think this situation should be addressed through a catch-all grant of power," Melewsky said. "This is a very specific situation and a very important right that’s been curtailed. We’re talking about our constitutionally guaranteed First Amendment rights."
Although The Republican-Herald covers all Schuylkill County high school graduations every year, and no reporter had been denied access to any graduation ceremony for not having a ticket, Rakowsky wrote that permitting access to the graduation would have been "inconsistent with past practice."
Melewsky said that because there is no written policy, reporters have no way of knowing anything about it other than how it was implemented in this situation.
"What are the four corners of this policy? Who does it apply to? What are its limitations? How far does it go? Who has power to enforce it?" Melewsky said.
Melewsky said it cannot even be determined if the same rules would apply for other events, such as football games.
"The newspapers help in getting out the good work that the students have been doing," Melewsky said.
Rakowsky declined repeated requests for in-person and telephone interviews, and his written statement failed to answer several of the questions included in an e-mail from The Republican-Herald. An employee at O’Pake’s law office said he was out of town Thursday and today, and he could not be reached for comment.
STAFF REPORTS
The Shenandoah Valley school board never voted on the policy used to keep a Republican-Herald reporter out of Shenandoah Valley High School’s 2009 graduation ceremony, according to an open records request response received by the newspaper Wednesday.
"The lack of a written policy leads to problems just like we’re seeing," Pennsylvania Newspaper Association counsel Melissa Melewsky said in a telephone interview Thursday. "Policy should be written down, should be clear and should be voted on at a public meeting."
A Republican-Herald reporter was escorted off school property at the Shenandoah Valley High School when attempting to cover the June 1 graduation ceremony.
On June 10, The Republican-Herald filed an open records request for copies of the policy in question in accordance with the state’s Right-to-Know Law.
The first paragraph submitted under the "Records Requested" section of the request read, in full: "Complete school district policies relating to attendance regulations for the June 1, 2009, graduation ceremony at the Shenandoah Valley High School, including but not limited to regulations regarding admission tickets, overflow seating for non-ticket holders and attendance by members of the press."
School district solicitor Michael A. O’Pake answered in a written response received Wednesday. The statement read "Please be advised that there are no documents responsive to your request as contained in the first paragraph."
In response to the second paragraph, which requested the agenda and minutes for any school board meetings at which the policies discussed in the first paragraph were discussed or acted on, O’Pake wrote that the minutes for the May 27 meeting would be forwarded upon their approval at the June meeting Wednesday.
In a written statement issued June 6, Superintendent Stanley G. Rakowsky said he was using the "authority to initiate necessary procedures in circumstances not provided for in specific Board policy" granted to him as the CEO as appointed by the school board directors.
"It sounds like he had a catch-all kind of authority, and I don’t think this situation should be addressed through a catch-all grant of power," Melewsky said. "This is a very specific situation and a very important right that’s been curtailed. We’re talking about our constitutionally guaranteed First Amendment rights."
Although The Republican-Herald covers all Schuylkill County high school graduations every year, and no reporter had been denied access to any graduation ceremony for not having a ticket, Rakowsky wrote that permitting access to the graduation would have been "inconsistent with past practice."
Melewsky said that because there is no written policy, reporters have no way of knowing anything about it other than how it was implemented in this situation.
"What are the four corners of this policy? Who does it apply to? What are its limitations? How far does it go? Who has power to enforce it?" Melewsky said.
Melewsky said it cannot even be determined if the same rules would apply for other events, such as football games.
"The newspapers help in getting out the good work that the students have been doing," Melewsky said.
Rakowsky declined repeated requests for in-person and telephone interviews, and his written statement failed to answer several of the questions included in an e-mail from The Republican-Herald. An employee at O’Pake’s law office said he was out of town Thursday and today, and he could not be reached for comment.
