Central Bucks School District. Photo by James Short.
The attorney for plaintiffs in a Sunshine Act lawsuit against Central Bucks School District have filed a motion for summary judgment, seeking a ruling in their favor.
According to Bucks County Courier Times, the lawsuit alleges that school board members violated the Sunshine Act multiple times.
One of the accusations involves adding significant items to a meeting agenda less than 24 hours in advance, which contradicts the required notice for public meetings. Another issue raised is the failure to publicly announce a meeting where board communication policies were discussed, per the article.
The plaintiffs' lawyer, Chadwick Schnee, also claims that the school board should face sanctions for allegedly deleting relevant records after their former attorney, David Conn, was notified to retain documents pending litigation, according to the report.
Central Bucks School District has until April 9 to respond to the motion; if the motion is denied, the case may proceed to trial after June 13.
One key point in the lawsuit involves a December 2023 meeting where new items were added to the board agenda without the necessary 24-hour notice required by the Sunshine Act. According to the article, the new board president, Karen Smith, said that the new board majority had been unable to add agenda items previously due to the outgoing president's actions.
The Sunshine Act does allow for last-minute agenda items in emergency situations or those with minimal impact, but the additions in question included hiring a new district solicitor, which requires a contract, and suspending various district policies—actions that do not qualify as "de minimis,” per the article.
Another violation alleged in the motion concerns a January 2024 gathering where board members discussed communication strategies without publicly announcing the meeting.
The board referred to this event as a "retreat," but the plaintiffs argue that communication protocols are indeed official business since they affect how the public accesses records, according to the article.
The motion further accuses the board of destroying evidence by using the Signal app for communications between board members. Some of these messages were set to auto-delete, and Schnee argued that this deletion of records constitutes evidence destruction.
According to the Bucks County Courier Times, board members testified that they were unaware of any legal requirement to retain records, but the plaintiffs contend that this lack of retention compromises public accountability.
