District must pay legal fees

The district paid 12,500 to settle the lawsuit.
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) -- A school district and three administrators have to pay a newspaper for the legal fees it incurred trying to find out how much money three pupils received in a legal settlement over the school dress code, a state appeals court has ruled.
A Commonwealth Court panel said the New Castle Area School District engaged in "wanton and willful disregard" for the right of the New Castle News to have access to a public record.
Two high-school students and a sixth-grader, through their parents or guardians, filed two federal civil-rights lawsuits against the district in September 2004. They claimed their free-speech rights were violated when they were suspended for wearing unapproved patches on their school uniforms.
Confidentiality
A settlement was negotiated in April 2005, but the district insisted that it include a confidentiality provision.
"A school district may not contract away the public's right of access to public records because the purpose of access is to keep open the doors of government, to prohibit secrets, to scrutinize the actions of public officials and to make public officials accountable in their use of public funds," wrote Judge Rochelle S. Friedman.
The judges ordered the district to pay the newspaper's 8,820 in legal fees and litigation costs.
A federal judge in August 2005 granted the newspaper's motion to unseal the settlement agreement, and the paper obtained it two months later.
A Lawrence County Common Pleas Court judge subsequently ruled that the school district's denial of the request under the state Right-to-Know Law, which specifically allows access to contracts, entitled the paper to recoup its legal fees and litigation costs.
Response
New Castle News publisher Max Thomson released a statement saying Pennsylvania newspapers have long believed the public's business should be conducted in public.
"The shame is that now the taxpayers have to pay because of some of their elected officials' misguided attempts to keep important public information secret," Thomson said.
Atty. Chuck Sapienza, who represents the district and administrators, said he would consult with school district officials regarding potential future appeals.
"Obviously we disagree with the Commonwealth Court's findings, but at the same time understand their ruling," Sapienza said.
He said the district paid 12,500 to settle the cases.
The pupils were ages 13 to 17, and although Wednesday's court ruling indicates the case involved two pupils, the newspaper and Sapienza said three were involved.
Atty. Teri Henning of the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association said the decision, along with a recent case involving records of the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency, show appellate courts are willing to award legal fees in Right-to-Know Law cases.
"These types of confidentiality provisions in settlement agreements have been ruled to be unenforceable, in more than one case," Henning said.
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