Jersey Shore Area School District officials, constituent quibble over public access to ‘meeting’

JERSEY SHORE -- Was a gathering of the Buildings and Grounds Committee of the Jersey Shore Area School Board to tour school buildings with a consultant a meeting or not? And, if it was, why wasn't it advertised in advance per board policy?

One district resident raised concerns at this week's regular board meeting about the openness of the board in reference to what she called a "meeting" of the Buildings and Grounds Committee last month.

Raye Bierly, who frequently challenges the board, claimed that the meeting was held away from the eyes of the public and was not advertised per board policy in a publication of note 24 hours in advance.

According to Board Policy on meeting notifications, "Notice of all rescheduled meetings shall be given by publication and posting of notice at least twenty-four (24) hours prior to the time of the meeting."

Bierly indicated that she had not seen any notification of the rescheduled meeting so she had called the head of the committee, Board Member Harry Brungard. He had told her where and when it would be held.

When Bierly and two other district residents went to where the meeting was going to be held, she alleged that they were told it wasn't open to the public.

Although Bierly focused on what she cited as a failure to comply with board policy, the issue of whether what she called a meeting violated the Sunshine or Open Meetings Act could also come into question.

According to legal counsel at the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association (PNA), Melissa Melewsky, it seems they did not.

"Committees are an agency subject to the Sunshine Act the same way the larger board is, but here, there seems to be a question about whether there was any deliberation...the Sunshine Act only applies when there's a quorum of an agency deliberating agency business or taking official action. If there is no 'deliberation' amongst a quorum or no votes, the Sunshine Act does not apply. The act does apply to quorum deliberation, even if there is no vote," Melewsky stated.

Referring to the Buildings and Grounds Committee meeting, she wrote, "if the committee members were just listening and not discussing ways to address an issue with the building, the Sunshine Act would not apply. The problem is that we don't really know whether there was deliberation because the public was excluded. It is also important to remember that even if the Sunshine Act did not apply, that doesn't mean the public must be excluded. The Sunshine Act sets the bare minimum requirements for public access; agencies can be more open."

At the regular board meeting this week, Christopher Kenyon, stated that his office had been contacted about the Buildings and Grounds Committee tour of the Middle School with SitelogIQ, which is the event Bierly called a meeting.

"That was not a meeting as defined by the Sunshine Act," Kenyon said.

"Just because Mrs. Bierly calls that a meeting, that was actually just an opportunity for SitelogIQ to present information to the committee as they walk through buildings," he explained.

"So, allegations should be cautioned and if you have concerns, you can always bring them to our attention and we'll address them appropriately," Kenyon added.

Bierly subsequently noted to the Sun-Gazette that the chair of the committee himself referred to the tour as a "meeting" before it happened in emails she shared with the reporter.

"The District was being transparent with the public but since this was a walk-through of the building for informational purposes (share with the committee the plan for work the SiteLogiq had) that it was not open to the public," Superintendent Dr. Brian Ulmer said.

"To do so was not required nor was it feasible to have the public walking through the district's buildings. Please note that we reported at the last meeting that the entire board was invited to walk through portions of the middle school that were on the agenda as a scope of work that same evening," he added.