Penn State trustees agree to legal training, improved transparency in settlement with Spotlight PA
This story was produced by the State College regional bureau of Spotlight PA, an independent, nonpartisan newsroom dedicated to investigative and public-service journalism for Pennsylvania. Sign up for Talk of the Town, a weekly newsletter of local stories that dig deep, events, and more from north-central PA, at spotlightpa.org/newsletters/talkofthetown.
Penn State University's Board of Trustees will complete a training on the state's open meetings law and disclose more information about its closed-door gatherings as part of a settlement with Spotlight PA.
The agreement, signed last week, ends a case the newsroom, in partnership with the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, brought against the board in December 2023 for alleged violations of the Sunshine Act, the state law mandating transparency from governing bodies.
'The settlement ensures that one of Pennsylvania's most influential institutions will conduct its business with the transparency that taxpayers, students, faculty, and staff deserve,' said Christopher Baxter, CEO and president of Spotlight PA. 'The university's most recent decision to close seven campuses — and the effect it will have on communities across the state — underscores the need for these important reforms.'
Neither Penn State nor board leadership responded to a request for comment for this story.
Spotlight PA has documented the board's decadelong use of private meetings and practices that may have run afoul of the state's transparency law, including that university leadership met privately with trustees to discuss Penn State's multimillion-dollar budget deficit and to consider naming the football field after former coach Joe Paterno. Internal board communications, previously obtained by the newsroom, revealed that board leadership directed trustees to ask questions during a private session rather than at a public meeting, a request a media law attorney described as a 'gigantic red flag.'
Penn State has already altered some of its practices to increase transparency. In October, a committee of top university officials held its first public meeting since 2011. Under the new settlement agreement, every meeting of the executive committee must be publicized on the board's website, and the board must continue to publish the group's meeting agendas.
Additionally, according to the settlement, the board will hold a Sunshine Act training for trustees and publicly report which members completed the session. The Pennsylvania Office of Open Records is scheduled to provide the training on Sept. 11, according to the agency's calendar. Incoming trustees will be offered the training starting in 2026.
Liz Wagenseller, executive director of the Office of Open Records, said in a statement that the state's open meetings law 'plays a vital role in ensuring the public can see how tax dollars are spent and how government entities operate. The Office of Open Records values every invitation to assist agencies and others subject to the law in better understanding their obligations regarding public meetings. We look forward to working with the Penn State Board of Trustees to help uphold the transparency and accountability the Act is designed to promote.'
For years, the Penn State board has met behind closed doors with university officials in 'conference,' a practice allowed under the law for 'any training program or seminar, or any session arranged by State or Federal agencies for local agencies, organized and conducted for the sole purpose of providing information to agency members on matters directly related to their official responsibilities.' The public had limited insight into these gatherings.
Under the agreement, the board will disclose the person providing the training and the topic. Similarly, when the trustees hold an executive session, the board will publicly say the reason why and cite the legal exemption that allows for the private meeting. The terms of the settlement will last for five years. Read the full agreement here.
'This is such an important win for transparency in the Commonwealth,' said Paula Knudsen Burke, the Pennsylvania attorney for the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press who represented Spotlight PA in the case. 'The university and its board of trustees are ultimately accountable to the people of Pennsylvania, and their business is the public's business. This agreement, which explicitly includes Sunshine Act compliance training, sets a clear expectation that they can no longer hide behind closed doors and executive sessions.'
The settlement ends more than 18 months of legal arguments in local court.
In October 2023, Spotlight PA and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press sent the board a letter requesting the trustees 'immediately cease holding improper executive sessions and conferences, advertise and record meeting minutes for all public meetings, and halt the practice of deliberating in secret.'
The university's vice president and general counsel, Tabitha Oman, responded that she was 'confident that the Board has taken its official actions and conducted its deliberations in compliance' with the law.
During the board's November 2023 meetings in University Park, Spotlight PA witnessed what it believed were potential violations of the open meetings law, prompting the lawsuit in Centre County Court of Common Pleas. After the board's February and May 2024 meetings, the lawsuit was amended to include additional allegations. Throughout the legal process, Penn State argued its trustees followed the law.
'Penn State is a more transparent institution than it was a year and a half ago thanks to Spotlight PA and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press,' said Sarah Rafacz, managing editor of Spotlight PA's State College bureau. 'With this agreement in place, we will see more public disclosures about the business of the trustees than ever before. Our push for transparency will also continue through our tenacious accountability reporting on the university.'
In September, Commonwealth Court will tentatively hear arguments in an ongoing case between Penn State and the state Department of Education against Spotlight PA to decide whether university documents the Office of Open Records previously deemed public should be turned over to the newsroom.
and help us reinvigorate local news in north-central Pennsylvania at spotlightpa.org/donate. Spotlight PA is funded by foundations and readers like you who are committed to accountability and public-service journalism that gets results.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
19-06-2025
- Yahoo
More local governments in Pennsylvania would be able to tax more to cover fire, EMS costs under new bill
This story was produced by the State College regional bureau of Spotlight PA, an independent, nonpartisan newsroom dedicated to investigative and public-service journalism for Pennsylvania. Sign up for Talk of the Town, a weekly newsletter of local stories that dig deep, events, and more from north-central PA, at STATE COLLEGE — Hundreds of local governments in Pennsylvania would gain expanded taxing power to fund their cash-strapped fire departments and emergency medical services under a bill advancing in the legislature. Last year, the state legislature gave some local governments the ability to levy higher property taxes to fund fire companies and EMS providers. Now, a bill that would expand that opportunity to over 1,400 more municipalities has passed the Democratic-controlled state House. Local governments in Pennsylvania decide how to fund these emergency services for their communities. Governing boards can pay for these costs out of their main account, usually called the general fund, or they can set money aside using a special real estate tax and restrict that income to only fire or EMS services. David Greene, executive director of the Pennsylvania Local Government Commission, a legislative agency, described such a dedicated property tax as a 'lock box mechanism.' It 'gives the public an understanding that that portion of their tax bill is going [to] and is guaranteed for that specific purpose,' he told Spotlight PA. But for decades, state law has imposed an upper limit on how much local governments can tax property owners for these purposes: no more than 3 mills for a fire tax, and no more than half a mill for an EMS tax. These kinds of limits have been criticized by some as arbitrary. But that changed — to a small extent — last year when state lawmakers approved Act 54, which raised the fire tax limit to 10 mills and the EMS tax cap to 5 mills for about 150 boroughs and townships in Bucks, Delaware, and Montgomery Counties, according to a count compiled by the Pennsylvania Local Government Commission. In Bucks County's Northampton Township, the board of supervisors decided it was 'absolutely critical' to fund a full-time fire department that is on call every hour of the day, Township Manager Robert Pellegrino told Spotlight PA. The trouble was that the township was already charging property owners the maximum rate of a fire tax it could under state law: $3 for every $1,000 of the assessed value of a property — or 3 mills. That translates to about $1.8 million, which is less than one-third of the township fire department's budget, Pellegrino said. Before the tax cap increase, Northampton Township had limited options to make up the difference. It could transfer money from its general fund, which could put severe strain on other services like police, or it could raise its taxing limits through a voter referendum, which Pellegrino said is an 'unsustainable model.' Pellegrino said his township worked with state legislators on behalf of the measure. Northampton Township was one of the three local governments (all in Bucks County) that have exercised this new, higher taxing authority so far. 'It's a huge relief and a very big help,' Pellegrino told Spotlight PA. Northampton Township is able to almost entirely fund its fire department with the new tax. At least 855 of the state's 2,558 municipalities impose some form of fire tax, according to a database maintained by the Department of Community and Economic Development, which includes tax information submitted by about 80% of local governments. The same dataset showed 224 local governments reported having a tax for ambulance, rescue, and emergency services. A Spotlight PA analysis of state data found that among municipalities that have a form of fire tax, about 7.5% have reached or exceeded the cap. For those with an EMS tax, 62% have met or gone beyond half a mill. The increases allowed by Act 54 were 'a step in the right direction,' state Rep. Chris Pielli (D., Chester), prime sponsor for House Bill 393, wrote in a memo seeking support from his colleagues. His proposal would allow second-class townships in Pennsylvania — where a majority of commonwealth residents live — the same 10-mill limit for a fire tax and 5-mill cap for an EMS tax. Pielli, a former township supervisor, told Spotlight PA that his proposal has the support of local fire and EMS agencies. He said that funding is only one aspect of the crisis facing public safety services and that additional actions in Harrisburg, like tax breaks for first responders, should be considered. 'This is a problem that requires a multipronged approach,' Pielli said. Nearly 90% of the state's 1,770 registered fire departments are entirely staffed by volunteers, according to the U.S. Fire Administration. A 2021 survey of Pennsylvania's 744 certified EMS agencies found more than half of them had experienced a budget deficit, according to the Center for Rural Pennsylvania, a legislative agency. Many local fire companies and EMS providers have sounded the alarm on funding and operational challenges. 'EMS systems are collapsing under the weight of outdated reimbursement models [and] the lack of funding to maintain 24/7 readiness and workforce attrition,' Janette Swade, executive director for the independent Pennsylvania Emergency Health Services Council, told Spotlight PA in an email. Swade's organization doesn't take positions on legislation, including Pielli's. But she said raising municipal EMS taxes, increasing mutual aid among agencies, and establishing EMS authorities are some solutions the council supports. David Sanko, executive director of the Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors, told Spotlight PA that the higher taxing limits proposed in Pielli's bill would enable better local decision-making. Arden Knapp, chair of the Pleasant Township Board of Supervisors in Warren County, told Spotlight PA the proposed measure is 'really necessary.' Knapp's rural township now taxes the maximum rates for both fire and EMS services, but revenue continues to be strained, because a third of the township's land mass is public forest that does not generate tax income. The township is 'taking every bit of that EMS tax' as well as additional monies from the general fund to ensure ambulance services for residents, he said. Part of the cost goes to hiring a private, nighttime ambulance, because staffing has been a struggle. Knapp said he believes residents will support a potential increase because they realize the financial reality of fire and ambulance services — something Pellegrino, Sanko, and Pielli told Spotlight PA they have observed. 'When you're dealing with municipalities, I think for the most part, they try to be as responsible as possible and set the rates precisely [as] what they believe is the reasonable amount of revenue that they need,' Greene, of the Local Government Commission, said. The commission tracks which municipalities take advantage of Act 54 and studies the impacts. Some key questions Greene and his agency will study include why municipalities opt to levy these special real estate taxes, how the increased funding is spent, and whether higher fire and EMS taxes alleviate fundraising pressures. The commission's assistant director, Kristopher Gazsi, said the study will hopefully inform future bills. and help us reinvigorate local news in north-central Pennsylvania at Spotlight PA is funded by foundations and readers like you who are committed to accountability and public-service journalism that gets results. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
14-06-2025
- Yahoo
Will Penn State trustees remove Barry Fenchak from board? Special meeting scheduled
The Penn State board of trustees scheduled a special meeting for Monday to vote on removing one of its most outspoken board members. The board will meet virtually at 3 p.m. Monday, June 16 to consider a proposal recommending removing trustee Barry Fenchak from the board. A vote in favor of doing so would make Fenchak permanently ineligible to serve on the board again. Fenchak is an alumni-elected trustee whose three-year term expires June 30. He submitted materials and garnered enough signatures to appear on the trustee election ballot to run for a second term, but the board ruled he was unqualified and ineligible to appear on the ballot. He ran an unsuccessful write-in campaign. The board previously tried to permanently remove Fenchak from the board in the fall because of an incident that occurred after the board's July 2024 meeting. Fenchak loosely repeated a quote from the PG-rated movie 'A League of Their Own' in which Tom Hanks' character told a baseball umpire he looked like a 'penis with a little hat on' to a female staff member. A board subcommittee found it to be a code of conduct violation and unanimously recommended his removal. When the board tried to remove him, the issue went to court as part of a lawsuit Fenchak filed against the board. The judge blocked the board from removing him as trustee a day before the vote was scheduled, finding Fenchak had provided 'uncontradicted evidence of a broad pattern of retaliatory behavior' by the board. But the judge, Brian Marshall, lifted that preliminary injunction in May — paving way for his removal — after finding the basis for it had since become moot. He granted the injunction in the fall after Fenchak showed the board was trying to remove him in retaliation for his repeated requests for information, namely the university's approximately $4.57 billion endowment and a reportedly $1 billion athletic department contract with a ticketing and fan engagement agency. But in the seven months since, Fenchak was given 510 pages of information related to the endowment and a complete, unredacted copy of the contract with Elevate. He can no longer claim he is subject to removal from the board because of those specific requests, Marshall wrote in his ruling. Reporter Bret Pallotto contributed to this report.
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Yahoo
Penn State Wins NIL Defamation Suit Filed by Ex-Basketball Captain
A Pennsylvania federal judge on Tuesday dismissed a defamation lawsuit brought by former Penn State men's basketball captain Kanye Clary against the school and head coach Mike Rhoades because Clary failed to offer necessary specifics in his accusations. Chief U.S. District Judge Matthew W. Brann wrote that Clary did not 'identify the audience of the allegedly defamatory statements' and failed to include dates for some statements. Other statements weren't identified as false or were 'too vague' to support a viable claim, Brann wrote. Advertisement More from Clary, a 5-foot-11 guard and former four-star recruit out of Massanutten Military Academy (Woodstock, VA), played two seasons at Penn State from 2022 to 2024. He transferred to Mississippi State for the 2024-25 season and will play at Oklahoma State in 2025-26. Clary sued last December. He contends that Rhoades mistreated him in several ways. As Clary tells it, Rhoades 'dismissed' his concerns about 'lax discipline' and too much 'leniency' for teammates arriving late, showing disrespect and violating other team rules. As Rhoades objected to some teammates 'receiving preferential treatment,' he says he became the target of retribution. The allegedly strained relationship between Clary and Rhoades played a role in Clary's NIL dealings or lack there-of. He says that in January 2024, his family reached out to Rhoades to question why Clary, who was the Nittany Lions' leading scorer in 2023-24, had no NIL deals. The family also suggested that Penn State and an affiliated collective, Happy Valley United, were illegally using his NIL in social media and marketing materials. That discussion, Clary contends, led to Rhoades sending him an NIL contract that would have been between the player and Happy Valley. Advertisement Clary refused to sign since he believed the deal would have underpaid him. He insists the 'retaliation' against him only 'escalated' thereafter. To make matters worse for Clary, he sustained a concussion during a game in January 2024. He says the concussion gave Rhodes additional 'ways' to punish him. He says Rhoades 'spread a false narrative' that Clary 'improperly missed classes' when (Claims claims) he was excluded due to recovery from his concussion. Clary also asserts that Rhoades suggested he was failing his classes when he was only missing one assignment because of concussion symptoms and that he wanted to transfer for NIL related reasons. Rhoades, the player adds, also said Clary improperly used the word 'bro' when 'the entire team and coaching staff used that term.' Further, Clary refers to teammates overhearing coaches badmouth him 'behind his back' and believes the alleged badmouthing was 'at the behest of Coach Rhodes.' Clary's father, Anthony Clary, also claims that another coach relayed to him that Rhoades was slandering his son. Those alleged comments made it harder for Clary to transfer and the experience caused him to suffer from 'anger, resentment and depression.' The defendants deny the allegations, but Brann wrote the more relevant legal issue is that Clary's complaint fails to adequately plead defamation. Under Pennsylvania law, Clary must allege specifics about the supposedly defamatory words, including the speaker, the date, to whom the statement was made and an assertion the statement was, in fact, false. Generalized assertions that someone else is saying reputationally harmful statements is not enough. Advertisement To that end, Brann reasoned that Clary's assertions fail for one reason or another. For instance, Rhoades' allegedly claiming Clary was failing his courses lacks details as to whom those comments were directed and when they were made. Also, claims regarding use of the word 'bro' are not described in the complaint as untrue. Brann provided Clary an opportunity to file an amended complaint by June 24. Whether Clary can offer the necessary specifics remains to be seen. Best of Sign up for Sportico's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
