From the PNA Legal Hotline

By Melissa Melewsky, Media Law Counsel
Pennsylvania Newspaper Association

Q: Are charter schools and cyber charter schools subject to the Right to Know Law and Sunshine Act?

A: Yes. Both charter schools and cyber charter schools are subject to the Right to Know Law and Sunshine Act.

Section 102 of the Right to Know Law (RTKL) expressly includes charter schools and cyber charter schools in the definition of “local agency.”

Records of charter schools and cyber charter schools are presumptively public and must be provided within the time frame of the RTKL unless the school can show a valid exemption applies to limit access.

Similarly, the Charter School Law, section 17-1715-A(1), renders charter schools and cyber charter schools subject to the same statutes applicable to traditional school boards, including the Sunshine Act.

As a result, both charter school and cyber charter school boards are subject to the requirements of the Sunshine Act, including that any time a quorum of a board (or committee of a board) deliberates agency business, it must do so at an open, advertised meeting, unless an exception applies.

The most common exceptions are executive session exceptions for matters such as ongoing legal battles or personnel issues.