Opinion: Substance missing from school board minutes. Is it time to change the law?

When I was doing research to write a rebuttal to remarks made by some Bellefonte school board members regarding a decision about a textbook, I discovered that the board’s record-keeping is bare bones and of no use.

Let me jump you through the hoops.

After watching the May 21 discussion and vote regarding a new textbook, I asked one board member who had opined at great length if he would send me a copy of his remarks so I could respond. The board member, Patrick Buck, replied:

“Let me know what part or parts you would like clarification on.”

I told him I wanted the entire essay and he replied: “I do not have an electronic copy to share.”

I replied: “But you read from something. I watched it. You must have the manuscript, which was produced on a computer. No?”

His response: “Typed up, not saved.” (I hope he at least recycled it.)

Strange response because I have screenshots of him reading his statement so I replied: “It can be scanned. It should be part of the minutes. It’s a public document. Check with your solicitor.”

He said “Thanks.”

I then talked to two lawyers who are experts in public records and open meetings. Both have degrees from the Bellisario College of Communications at Penn State and one of them is a former student. They suggested I file a right-to-know request with the school district.

I got a very prompt response from Kenneth Bean, the board secretary, which is a staff position. He is not a member of the board.

“The board members did not submit the statements that they read at the meeting. The minutes do not include the detailed discussion of any agenda item. As you mentioned, we do have the C-NET recordings available. Thank you.”

The important part of that response: “The minutes do not include the detailed discussion of any agenda item.” In fact, the 25-minute discussion is covered in a bland six lines.

And while I think the minutes should show more, the law does not clearly support my point of view. The law requires that minutes contain date, time and place, names of members present, “the substance of all official actions and a record by individual member of the roll call votes taken,” and the names of anyone appears officially.

Wouldn’t statements read by members of the board constitute “substance of all official actions” and thereby be recorded in the minutes? I don’t think it’s too much to ask since all it takes is a board member handing a copy of a statement to the recording secretary to be scanned and attached to the minutes. The board already does that routinely with other items. After voting on the textbook on May 21, for example, the board voted to approve some bids and attached a copy of the bids to the minutes.

But the issue is bigger than Bellefonte. I was advised that most school board minutes are sparse and when I randomly checked the other school districts in Centre County, I discovered that historians would not be able to rely on minutes to learn what school board members said.

So there’s a flaw in the law. The State Legislature could fix the law but in the meantime, school boards across the commonwealth could act in good faith on behalf of the taxpayers and put more substance into their minutes.