As part of my Journalism 220 class at IUP and in an effort to learn how the Open Records Act works, I have sent a request to my high school, Conemaugh Valley Jr./Sr. High School. I inquired about the salaries that the Superintendent and the Principal receive.
After several weeks of waiting, I received a polite letter in return, signed by the superintendent, that disclosed the information. As it turns out, the superintendent, William H. Rushin, gets an annual salary of $105,000/year. The principal, James F. Cekada, gets $75,780/year.
While it seems that this amount is similar to some found by my classmates, I wonder how many students those schools have. I am unable to find a total student population, but I graduated in 2006 with a class of 69 students. Throughout my high school career, many of our books were outdated and in deplorable condition, sometimes ten years old and missing the hard cover completely. I recall a few occasions when the janitors came into our classrooms with buckets because the rainwater was leaking through the roof onto the floor.
With all of this in mind, why are the superintendent and principal making so much of our taxpayer money? Do they truly need or deserve it? Are there better uses for it? Things may have changed for the better since I was a student, but it's only been two and a half years.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
District Superintendent Contract
I sent a letter to my high school's superintendent requesting a copy of her contract on October 24. I waited for weeks for an answer, until I finally gave in and called the school. They told me that they had in fact mailed me a copy the day that they recieved my letter, October 31. Since I was not present when the mailman came by to drop off the letter, which I had to sign for and show identification, I was unable to attain it. The superintendent's secretary then offered to scan and e-mail me a copy of the contract, which I immediately agreed to. I recieved an e-mail almost immediately, and was very pleased with the assignment.
Belle Vernon Area School District School Board Salaries
For my open records challenge, i wrote a letter to Eileen Navish, the business manager at Belle Vernon Area School District requesting information if elected school board officials receive any type of salary when holding a position.
Within a week or two, i promptly received an e-mail attachment from Navish saying she was pleased to provide this information for me and in regard to the information requested; members of the Belle Vernon School Board receive zero wages while holding a board position.
The reason for this is because, outside of the district superintendent, school board members work at their own respective jobs and, thus, receive wages from them.
Within a week or two, i promptly received an e-mail attachment from Navish saying she was pleased to provide this information for me and in regard to the information requested; members of the Belle Vernon School Board receive zero wages while holding a board position.
The reason for this is because, outside of the district superintendent, school board members work at their own respective jobs and, thus, receive wages from them.
IUP President Dr. Tony Atwater's contract and salary
Dear blogger,
Our class underwent a secret agent experiment to eek out little known information from the state system testing its availability for the public eye. Being a student attending college at IUP I thought it prudent to get an idea how long our president will be with us and what exactly goes on between his cabinet members and staff in Sutton Hall.
To begin to get an understanding I decided I would ask the university "Right-to-Know" officer on campus for a copy of the current president's contract and salary information.
The process was simple. I wrote a formal business letter to Michelle Fryling (said Right-to-Know officer) asking for the required documents on October 24th. On October 29th I assumed she would have gotten the letter so I called her office and left a voicemail asking if she received the letter and asking if she could get back to me soon. The very next day she called my cell phone and asked me if I wanted to pick up the information at her office or receive it in the mail because it was ready for me. I opted for the mail and it arrived on November 8th. It was listed as certified mail which I had to sign for and show identification to receive.
The information she sent me was not a full contract but it does include the president's annual salary of $239,083.00 and includes information about his term which goes until June 30, 2010. It goes into his duties and the relationships between cabinet members, vice presidents and provosts. I gleaned a lot of knowledge from this project which I highly value being a student here. I did not have any trouble getting the information and Fryling even inserted a little note into my letter wishing me luck on my project.
Since this was a secret agent project and all, I hadn't intended she find out I am a student but with a mailing address of 'Crimson Hawk' I guess it is hard to misinterpret.
While doing this project I felt as though I was doing something that was wrong. Even though everyone knows how much the president of the United States makes in a year it somehow felt impolite to try and weasel out the contract. I felt as though I was going behind the president's back by seeking this information. Now I realize that those feelings need to be checked. There is nothing sneaky or wrong about being aware of this information. Now I have a better understanding of my surroundings and can nip lame rumors about the university higher-ups in the bud. It is amazing how unaware people are of these real figures.
The information I sought was given to me. The system works.
Our class underwent a secret agent experiment to eek out little known information from the state system testing its availability for the public eye. Being a student attending college at IUP I thought it prudent to get an idea how long our president will be with us and what exactly goes on between his cabinet members and staff in Sutton Hall.
To begin to get an understanding I decided I would ask the university "Right-to-Know" officer on campus for a copy of the current president's contract and salary information.
The process was simple. I wrote a formal business letter to Michelle Fryling (said Right-to-Know officer) asking for the required documents on October 24th. On October 29th I assumed she would have gotten the letter so I called her office and left a voicemail asking if she received the letter and asking if she could get back to me soon. The very next day she called my cell phone and asked me if I wanted to pick up the information at her office or receive it in the mail because it was ready for me. I opted for the mail and it arrived on November 8th. It was listed as certified mail which I had to sign for and show identification to receive.
The information she sent me was not a full contract but it does include the president's annual salary of $239,083.00 and includes information about his term which goes until June 30, 2010. It goes into his duties and the relationships between cabinet members, vice presidents and provosts. I gleaned a lot of knowledge from this project which I highly value being a student here. I did not have any trouble getting the information and Fryling even inserted a little note into my letter wishing me luck on my project.
Since this was a secret agent project and all, I hadn't intended she find out I am a student but with a mailing address of 'Crimson Hawk' I guess it is hard to misinterpret.
While doing this project I felt as though I was doing something that was wrong. Even though everyone knows how much the president of the United States makes in a year it somehow felt impolite to try and weasel out the contract. I felt as though I was going behind the president's back by seeking this information. Now I realize that those feelings need to be checked. There is nothing sneaky or wrong about being aware of this information. Now I have a better understanding of my surroundings and can nip lame rumors about the university higher-ups in the bud. It is amazing how unaware people are of these real figures.
The information I sought was given to me. The system works.
norristown area school district
As a project for my journalism 220 class at IUP, my professor had the class send letters requesting information (that should be able to be given out to the public as part of open records) from a place of the students choosing. I chose the school district of my hometown, Norristown Area School District.
I mailed my letter to the school district on Oct. 24, 2008. On Nov. 9, I recieved a letter back stating that they were unable to give out this information.
Really though? All I asked for was to know how much was the salary of the superintendent of the school district. As a tax payer (and my tax dollars go to pay the superintendent's salary) I have the right to this information.
According to open records, if a salary is being payed by the tax payers, the tax payers have the right to know how much is being payed. There was no explanation of whyI was unable to recieve this information that I requested in the letter that was sent back to me. So how is it that I can be denied from obtaining this information?
I mailed my letter to the school district on Oct. 24, 2008. On Nov. 9, I recieved a letter back stating that they were unable to give out this information.
Really though? All I asked for was to know how much was the salary of the superintendent of the school district. As a tax payer (and my tax dollars go to pay the superintendent's salary) I have the right to this information.
According to open records, if a salary is being payed by the tax payers, the tax payers have the right to know how much is being payed. There was no explanation of whyI was unable to recieve this information that I requested in the letter that was sent back to me. So how is it that I can be denied from obtaining this information?
Marion Center Teacher's Strike
In my journalism 220 class, our professor asked us to read the new Right To Know Law and then type up and letter and send it out. I read the law and then thought about my senior year in high school; the teachers went on strike and pretty much ruined our year. We were forced to come to school on days we normally would have had off, snow days were a thing of the past and we could forget about graduating early like all the classes before us. My class, the class of 2007, was the first class to graduate ever in history of Marion Center on June 29.
Our summer was cut short and most of us started college toward the end of August. I remember all of us being really angry with the teachers for ruining our last year at Marion Center High School, but once I came to IUP it was long forgotten, until I was asked to type up a letter about the new Right To Know Law.
I wrote my letter to my high school asking them for the notes that were taken during all of the school board meetings where the teachers tried to get a new contract and higher wages. I asked if they could mail me the minutes and also the salaries of the teachers before and after the strike. On November 4, I received a letter from the new superintendent of the high school and he told me that the notes taken during the school board meetings and the salaries of the teachers before and after the strike were "...confidential, in other words, the public does not have the right to be presented that information."
Although they were not willing to give me the information I requested, the superintendent did say that if I was willing to pay $8.75 they could mail me information on a new collective bargaining agreement between Marion Center Area Board of School Directors and the Marion Center Area Education Association. This was out of the question since I am not willing to spend $10 for something I don't want information on.
Our summer was cut short and most of us started college toward the end of August. I remember all of us being really angry with the teachers for ruining our last year at Marion Center High School, but once I came to IUP it was long forgotten, until I was asked to type up a letter about the new Right To Know Law.
I wrote my letter to my high school asking them for the notes that were taken during all of the school board meetings where the teachers tried to get a new contract and higher wages. I asked if they could mail me the minutes and also the salaries of the teachers before and after the strike. On November 4, I received a letter from the new superintendent of the high school and he told me that the notes taken during the school board meetings and the salaries of the teachers before and after the strike were "...confidential, in other words, the public does not have the right to be presented that information."
Although they were not willing to give me the information I requested, the superintendent did say that if I was willing to pay $8.75 they could mail me information on a new collective bargaining agreement between Marion Center Area Board of School Directors and the Marion Center Area Education Association. This was out of the question since I am not willing to spend $10 for something I don't want information on.
To Build or Not to Build: A Proposal
For our journalism 220 assignment about understanding Pennsylvania open records and the New Right To Know Law, I decided to seek information about a community complex that was supposed to be built near my home in Milford, Pa. In order to find out more about the complex, I called my mom's best friend, Bernie, who regularly attends township meetings when the township is wanting to change building codes or build new things near her home--she lives across the highway from me. Bernie told me that the complex was supposed to be built on Rt. 209 and that for more information I should call the Westfall Township office and ask for Lisa Green.
On the morning of Oct. 24, I telephoned Lisa to find out more information and request information about the Right To Know Officer for the township. She informed me that she was the officer and that she would mail me the necessary forms for me to retrieve the minutes for the meeting. She informed me I could only get the minutes for the meeting where the concept plan was made because no proposal was ever made. That same day, Friday, I sent Lisa a letter requesting the aforementioned information.
The following Monday, Oct. 27, I received a letter from the township telling me that the required fees for the information and asking me to fill out a standard request form prepared by the township. I filled out the form and sent in the money.
I received the minutes from the Westfall Township Board of Supervisors meeting on Oct. 31. The information I learned about the complex was basically what I already knew, the concept plan was presented at the meeting and the complex was never built. One thing I did learn was that there is a lot more to making a building project than just location. There are traffic study issues, preliminary design issues to deal with including the location of water and sewage, and of course, community response issues.
I feel like this experience was a good one as it showed me the necessary routes that one must take in order to go about getting public information. I really did not have a difficult time retrieving the information because the Right To Know Officer that I spoke with was very nice and willing to help. I think I would definitely be able to confidently make another open records request in the future.
On the morning of Oct. 24, I telephoned Lisa to find out more information and request information about the Right To Know Officer for the township. She informed me that she was the officer and that she would mail me the necessary forms for me to retrieve the minutes for the meeting. She informed me I could only get the minutes for the meeting where the concept plan was made because no proposal was ever made. That same day, Friday, I sent Lisa a letter requesting the aforementioned information.
The following Monday, Oct. 27, I received a letter from the township telling me that the required fees for the information and asking me to fill out a standard request form prepared by the township. I filled out the form and sent in the money.
I received the minutes from the Westfall Township Board of Supervisors meeting on Oct. 31. The information I learned about the complex was basically what I already knew, the concept plan was presented at the meeting and the complex was never built. One thing I did learn was that there is a lot more to making a building project than just location. There are traffic study issues, preliminary design issues to deal with including the location of water and sewage, and of course, community response issues.
I feel like this experience was a good one as it showed me the necessary routes that one must take in order to go about getting public information. I really did not have a difficult time retrieving the information because the Right To Know Officer that I spoke with was very nice and willing to help. I think I would definitely be able to confidently make another open records request in the future.
Sheetz
For my journalism 220 class, we got an assignment to write to a public official requesting information to comply with the PA Right To Know Act. Well, I decided to write to the Right to Know Officer at Sheetz. Why? Because my hometown of Franklin, Pa just built a whole new Sheetz. My hometown is very small and hick-tastic so the building of a new Sheetz is a pretty big deal. I figured I could ask to see the budget they used for the construction and what not. However, since Sheetz is not really public, I received nothing back from them. I didn't really think about that until after I got my paper back and it said, "Steph, this isn't really public information." This assignment has made me realize that I should probably listen to instructions more carefully and if I do not fully understand something, I should probably go and ask the professor. I can't even imagine what the people at Sheetz thought when they got my letter! They probably had no clue what I was even talking about and trashed the letter asap. I kind of don't want to go into that Sheetz now. I would hate to have to purchase something there with my credit card and have the employee behind the counter say, "Steph McCann?? Didn't you write us some weird letter?"
Right to know
What information did I ask for, and why?
In my high school we did this thing called, The Day of Silence. Not all of the students took part in it, in fact it was mocked by the ones who didn't. The Day of Silence (this year is 4/17/09) is "..a project of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), is a student-led day of action when concerned students, from middle school to college, take some form of a vow of silence to bring attention to the name-calling, bullying and harassment -- in effect, the silencing -- experienced by LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) students and their allies.." (dayofsilence.com).
I took part in it, both years. We would come into school with a note that explained why we weren't allowed to talk during the day and could show it in class. The first year we did it, it wasn't a big deal. Some people made a stink about 'oh those gays just want attention'. Not everyone that participated was a part of the LGBT community. The second year we did it, was when shit hit the fan.
There were angry parents and community members at the school board meetings. People were crying and screaming. Even though it’s a public school people were waving their religious crosses in the air.
I was teaching head start at the time. (We have a classroom in our school.) I had absolutely fallen in love with this little Spanish girl in my class. She had this crazy curly hair and put a Spanish twist on her English words. Her and I bonded instantly and I looked forward to everyday I got to go in and see her. Her father was one of the people making a scene at the school board meetings. He made such a big deal that there was a news paper article about him. It turns out that this overly righteous man standing above everyone on his soap box screaming about Jesus and how gays and lesbians are the work of the devil, had a criminal record. He has statutory rape charges filed against him. Needless to say he took his family and ran out of town out of utter embarrassment. This meant that the little girl that I had gotten so close with was taken from me without even getting to say goodbye. I was heartbroken. No more would I get to see her smiley face and hear her yell "Miss Hillary!" when I came into the room.
My experience.
I chose to use this assignment to gain access to the school board minutes that covered that topic during that year. I sent a letter to my old high school asking for copies or scans of the minutes. I received a letter back saying that I was able to come in and inspect the minutes during times when school was in session from my former administrator Richard Snodgrass. I sent another letter restating that I had asked for copies to be sent because I am in Indiana at school (which is 3hrs away). I have not received a letter response however.
In my high school we did this thing called, The Day of Silence. Not all of the students took part in it, in fact it was mocked by the ones who didn't. The Day of Silence (this year is 4/17/09) is "..a project of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), is a student-led day of action when concerned students, from middle school to college, take some form of a vow of silence to bring attention to the name-calling, bullying and harassment -- in effect, the silencing -- experienced by LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) students and their allies.." (dayofsilence.com).
I took part in it, both years. We would come into school with a note that explained why we weren't allowed to talk during the day and could show it in class. The first year we did it, it wasn't a big deal. Some people made a stink about 'oh those gays just want attention'. Not everyone that participated was a part of the LGBT community. The second year we did it, was when shit hit the fan.
There were angry parents and community members at the school board meetings. People were crying and screaming. Even though it’s a public school people were waving their religious crosses in the air.
I was teaching head start at the time. (We have a classroom in our school.) I had absolutely fallen in love with this little Spanish girl in my class. She had this crazy curly hair and put a Spanish twist on her English words. Her and I bonded instantly and I looked forward to everyday I got to go in and see her. Her father was one of the people making a scene at the school board meetings. He made such a big deal that there was a news paper article about him. It turns out that this overly righteous man standing above everyone on his soap box screaming about Jesus and how gays and lesbians are the work of the devil, had a criminal record. He has statutory rape charges filed against him. Needless to say he took his family and ran out of town out of utter embarrassment. This meant that the little girl that I had gotten so close with was taken from me without even getting to say goodbye. I was heartbroken. No more would I get to see her smiley face and hear her yell "Miss Hillary!" when I came into the room.
My experience.
I chose to use this assignment to gain access to the school board minutes that covered that topic during that year. I sent a letter to my old high school asking for copies or scans of the minutes. I received a letter back saying that I was able to come in and inspect the minutes during times when school was in session from my former administrator Richard Snodgrass. I sent another letter restating that I had asked for copies to be sent because I am in Indiana at school (which is 3hrs away). I have not received a letter response however.
Open Records Challange
In my print media journalism class we had an assignment in which we had to try to obtain a public record. I am from Indiana, PA so I thought I would try to obtain records pertaining to the recent Indiana Area Junior High School renovation project.
To obtain these records I first, wrote a letter requesting the information to the Indiana County court house on Oct. 24, 2008. Within about a week (Oct. 30, 2008) I recieved a letter from the court house registrar and recorder's office. The women who sent me the letter informed me that the court house doesn't keep records of the school districts on hand; however, she gave me the mailing information of the school district's administration office. The letter that I recieved from the court house was very professional and the woman was very sincere. I then wrote a letter to the administration office, mailed it on Oct. 31, 2008 and hoped for the best. On Nov. 13, 2008 I recieved a letter from the school district. Enclosed was a very professional letter from the school district's business manager and the requested records. The document was a seven page summary of the renovations based on the final costs of the project.
~Ansley
New Castle School District Uniform Policy
For my journalism class, I had to request a document that would fall under the guidelines of the state's "right to know" laws. I decided to the town of New Castle, Pa. for my information because of the fact that I live there when I am not on campus. I wanted to go back to a policy that was put in place by the New Castle School District back when I was high school student there for the 2004 and 2005 school year. This topic stirred a lot of controversy and divided the town right in half.
That policy was the policy to stricten the dress code into what many critics would call a "uniform policy." To briefly provide background on the uniform policy of the New Castle School District, it was a policy that made you wear clothes that looked approperiate for school. The pants had to be black or gray and the shirts had to be white, gray, red, or black. The clothes started out being in the form of dress clothes until there were threats of lawsuits by different students at the school because they said it violated their right to express themselves freely. The district then decided to allow black jeans to be worn as well. But the policy to this day remains strict.
With the controversy the uniform policy brought, I thought I would request the information on the vote by each school board member on the uniforms. I sent a letter on October 24 with the help of my journalism professor, Michele McCoy to the superintendent, George Gabriel, on this vote. A week later, I got the information I wanted back with a letter from the superintendent acknowledging they received my request.
Everything I wanted was there. The result ended up being that eight of the nine school board members approved the new dress code. Only one didn't approve. For the record, that person ended up being the member I ended up interviewing for another English project back at high school. Her name was Andrea Przybylski for the record. Andrea claimed she needed more information on the dress code about the funding.
I must admit that I was surprised by how on top of things the New Castle School District was when it came to the "right to know" law. It was said Pennsylvania was 48th out of 50 when it came to transparency of the law. I thought I would have a really hard time with the district because of the fact the rest of the state is poor on the "right to know" law. But the district made the state look better than 48th. I commend the district for its terrific reply to my request. I thank the office of the superintendent and the superintendent himself for providing me the information I needed to know. New Castle knows more about the right to know law than most of the state does, if the state is indeed 48th out of 50.
That policy was the policy to stricten the dress code into what many critics would call a "uniform policy." To briefly provide background on the uniform policy of the New Castle School District, it was a policy that made you wear clothes that looked approperiate for school. The pants had to be black or gray and the shirts had to be white, gray, red, or black. The clothes started out being in the form of dress clothes until there were threats of lawsuits by different students at the school because they said it violated their right to express themselves freely. The district then decided to allow black jeans to be worn as well. But the policy to this day remains strict.
With the controversy the uniform policy brought, I thought I would request the information on the vote by each school board member on the uniforms. I sent a letter on October 24 with the help of my journalism professor, Michele McCoy to the superintendent, George Gabriel, on this vote. A week later, I got the information I wanted back with a letter from the superintendent acknowledging they received my request.
Everything I wanted was there. The result ended up being that eight of the nine school board members approved the new dress code. Only one didn't approve. For the record, that person ended up being the member I ended up interviewing for another English project back at high school. Her name was Andrea Przybylski for the record. Andrea claimed she needed more information on the dress code about the funding.
I must admit that I was surprised by how on top of things the New Castle School District was when it came to the "right to know" law. It was said Pennsylvania was 48th out of 50 when it came to transparency of the law. I thought I would have a really hard time with the district because of the fact the rest of the state is poor on the "right to know" law. But the district made the state look better than 48th. I commend the district for its terrific reply to my request. I thank the office of the superintendent and the superintendent himself for providing me the information I needed to know. New Castle knows more about the right to know law than most of the state does, if the state is indeed 48th out of 50.
Forest Hills Salaries
We had a journalism 220 project of writing to public offiicial and requesting information to comply with the PA Right To Know Act. I then decided to contact two of my school officials to see the differences in their wages. I asked for the salaries of the prinicpal of Forest Hills High School District, Edwin Bowser, and the Assitant Superintendent, who is also the Right To Know Officer, Raymond P. Danel.
I sent out the written request October 23 of 2008. A mere five days later I recieved a responce from Danel with my requested information and even offered further assistance if I wanted anymore information.
Danel was a '73 graduate of UPJ and a '69 graduate of Forest Hills High School. He also started hit career at Forest Hills in '73 and has held many positions such as Elmentry Teacher, Elementry School Principal, Director of Education and Right To Know Officer. Danel makes $114,646.14
Bowser has been nominated for numerous awards such as Who's Who Amoung Teachers in 2002. He is the track coach and volenteer wrestling coach. Bowser makes $88,884.72.
I sent out the written request October 23 of 2008. A mere five days later I recieved a responce from Danel with my requested information and even offered further assistance if I wanted anymore information.
Danel was a '73 graduate of UPJ and a '69 graduate of Forest Hills High School. He also started hit career at Forest Hills in '73 and has held many positions such as Elmentry Teacher, Elementry School Principal, Director of Education and Right To Know Officer. Danel makes $114,646.14
Bowser has been nominated for numerous awards such as Who's Who Amoung Teachers in 2002. He is the track coach and volenteer wrestling coach. Bowser makes $88,884.72.
The President's Salary
For this assignment, i sent a letter to the "Right to Know Officer" at my school asking for the contract, including salary, for the President of IUP. About a week and a half later I was able to go the Right to Know Officer's office and pick up a copy of the President's contract. I was shocked to recieve a two page contract that did not include much more than the President's base salary. I somehow doubt that the President's real contract would fail to include his free residence, transportation, etc.
Forest Hills School District
For our JRNL 220 project of finding open records under the PA Right to Know laws, I had decided to contact my home school district to access the salary of the superintendent of schools. I sent a letter to Raymond P. Danel, the Right to Know officer for the Forest Hills School District, on October 23, 2008, requesting the salary and all other payments made to Donald G. Bailey, Superintendent of Schools, head football coach, and head track coach.
To my surprise, Danel responded within four days of my request, meeting my every need. Enclosed in his letter (first class letter, mind you) were the expenses paid to Donald Bailey. Included were his salaries for the 2008-2009 school year in the positions of superintendent of schools, varsity football head coach, and varsity boys' head coach.
Granted, Bailey has been in the Forest Hills School District system since 1973, but the man is still being paid a very generous amount for a public school district official. He started off as a teacher, worked his way through asst. high school principal, high school principal, director of secondary education, and is currently superintendent.
Bailey rakes in a grand total of $139,342.
To my surprise, Danel responded within four days of my request, meeting my every need. Enclosed in his letter (first class letter, mind you) were the expenses paid to Donald Bailey. Included were his salaries for the 2008-2009 school year in the positions of superintendent of schools, varsity football head coach, and varsity boys' head coach.
Granted, Bailey has been in the Forest Hills School District system since 1973, but the man is still being paid a very generous amount for a public school district official. He started off as a teacher, worked his way through asst. high school principal, high school principal, director of secondary education, and is currently superintendent.
Bailey rakes in a grand total of $139,342.
My letter to Armstrong School District
For this assignment i sent a letter to Armstrong County School District asking for any information regarding the closing of the Elderton School. About four days later they got back to me with a phone call but I was in class. They left me a voicemail stating that they can give me the information if i could give them a call back confirming my address. After that I called the number they left on my voicemail about 4 times, I gave up. I think that there was a conflict with my schedule and the schedule of the person i was trying to contact. There is no apparent reason that they would try to give me the run around on this topic. It is not like I was asking for information that could be used against a person or organization.
Open Records Challenge- United High School, Indiana County
For JRNL 220, we were required to send a letter requesting a public record from either our hometown, Indiana, or our high school. I decided to request a janitor's salary from my high school because I remember when my mother was on the school board there was a big to-do about the janitors in our district being the highest paid in our conference. I sent United a "Right to Know" letter on October 24, 2008 and promptly received a response on October 27, 2008. I was very surprised that they responded so quickly. The letter I received was short and to the point.
To sum up the letter: "We received your request. Here is the requested information."
I honestly thought they might have a problem just giving me the salary of a specific employee but they didn't appear to have any problem with it.
To sum up the letter: "We received your request. Here is the requested information."
I honestly thought they might have a problem just giving me the salary of a specific employee but they didn't appear to have any problem with it.
Information Request
In our Journlism 220 class, we were asked to request public records in order to better understand the process journalists go through to obtain information. I decided to request the budget for the Marion Center Area School District because I had heard there was some controversy about how much had been spent on the new lights for the football field.
I started by visiting the school's website to try to determine who I should address my letter to. After reviewing all of the current administration, I decided that the best person to contact would be the business manager, Mr. Richard Martini. I plugged my information into the letter template that Dr. McCoy provided for the assignment, printed the letter and mailed it off to the school.
After two weeks of not receiving any response, I decided to contact the school to make sure my letter had been received. After being put on hold by the secretary for about ten minutes, I was transferred to Mr. Martini's voicemail. I left a message inquiring about my letter, leaving my name, phone number and email address for him to respond to, and I have yet to receive any kind of response.
I have a feeling that when/if I do eventually get a response, it will be to say that either the information isn't currently available, or some excuse about how it will take a lot of time to provide me with the information.
This is really the response I expected. With all of the recent questions about the football field, I did not expect a straight answer or response to my request.
I started by visiting the school's website to try to determine who I should address my letter to. After reviewing all of the current administration, I decided that the best person to contact would be the business manager, Mr. Richard Martini. I plugged my information into the letter template that Dr. McCoy provided for the assignment, printed the letter and mailed it off to the school.
After two weeks of not receiving any response, I decided to contact the school to make sure my letter had been received. After being put on hold by the secretary for about ten minutes, I was transferred to Mr. Martini's voicemail. I left a message inquiring about my letter, leaving my name, phone number and email address for him to respond to, and I have yet to receive any kind of response.
I have a feeling that when/if I do eventually get a response, it will be to say that either the information isn't currently available, or some excuse about how it will take a lot of time to provide me with the information.
This is really the response I expected. With all of the recent questions about the football field, I did not expect a straight answer or response to my request.
Scranton Pa - Open Record Challenge
Dear Blog,
How are you? I'm okay, my day has been alright, today in my journalism 220 (Writing for Print Media) class, we were instructed to blog about an assignment we were given. The assignment was to try and obtain a public record. Because of Pa's New Right to Know Law, this assignment sounded like a piece of cake. Well, apparently not.
I wrote to Scranton Pa's Right-To-Know representative, and requested my dad's criminal record. Mostly because I couldn't think of anything else, and also because I'd like to hold something over his head whenever I get into trouble.
After waiting about 2+ weeks for a response, I still haven't recieved anything. No call, email or letters. The information IS available online, but you can only search from the year 2000+, and I wanted his entire record. I sent a follow-up email, but still haven't recieved any response to either the original letter or my followup email.
In my opinion, the Right to Know law is a good law to be active, because as public we do have a right to this information, however, the representatives in charge, should be on top of their game and give the public what they want! I'm going to assume that said representative was busy, but it still would've been nice to have a courtesy phone call.
Love always,
Karah.
How are you? I'm okay, my day has been alright, today in my journalism 220 (Writing for Print Media) class, we were instructed to blog about an assignment we were given. The assignment was to try and obtain a public record. Because of Pa's New Right to Know Law, this assignment sounded like a piece of cake. Well, apparently not.
I wrote to Scranton Pa's Right-To-Know representative, and requested my dad's criminal record. Mostly because I couldn't think of anything else, and also because I'd like to hold something over his head whenever I get into trouble.
After waiting about 2+ weeks for a response, I still haven't recieved anything. No call, email or letters. The information IS available online, but you can only search from the year 2000+, and I wanted his entire record. I sent a follow-up email, but still haven't recieved any response to either the original letter or my followup email.
In my opinion, the Right to Know law is a good law to be active, because as public we do have a right to this information, however, the representatives in charge, should be on top of their game and give the public what they want! I'm going to assume that said representative was busy, but it still would've been nice to have a courtesy phone call.
Love always,
Karah.
Open Records Challenge - United High School, Indiana County
As part of my journalism 220 class, I was asked to obtain an item of public record. I chose to try and get the salary of an English teacher from my high school. I sent a letter requesting the salary and addressed it to United High School's "Right to Know Officer." I sent the letter out on Oct. 24, and by Oct. 27 I had received a letter in reply with all of the information that I requested. The "Right to Know Officer" is called the "Open Records Officer" at United. I was pleasantly surprised with how easy it was to obtain this information. I think that this law is an excellent way to let the public find out information that they deserve to have open to them.
DuBois City Open Records Challenge
Okay! So for this class we were supposed to write a letter to either our old school district or the city council asking for public records. Well, I did that. I wrote my letter addressed to the City of DuBois, only because I was unsure of who the record-keeper for the city was. I asked for records concerning the on-going battle about sewer rights (I know, very interesting, right?) But nevertheless, there has been a lot of controversy regarding this back home. All I know about the issue is what I heard from my parents. They both said that at one point in time, Sandy Township wasn't doing so well economically, and DuBois City was. Sandy tried to merge with DuBois, but DuBois said no. Then just recently, DuBois wanted to merge with Sandy, because Sandy had brought in a new shopping plaza, new stores for the mall, a Wal-Mart, etc., and DuBois was starting to lose business because of the new conviences Sandy brought in.
In some sense, there is a lot of "bad blood" between the two, and this whole sewer issue could be considered spiteful by the city. And all because Sandy Township is bringing in more money due to its growing economy.
But back to the letter at hand! So I wrote this letter, to the mystery right to know officer of DuBois city. I did not hear back from them for almost two weeks! I thought they were going to blow me off, and pretend that they never received my letter. But, when I went to check my campus mail box yesterday afternoon, there was a letter from the City of DuBois in my mailbox!
When I opened it, I am happy to report that they seem willing to comply with my request, because I was given a form to fill out and I just have to mail it in.
So I did in fact hear back from them, I just need to fill out the form and mail it back, and according to the post-it note attached to the form, they will send me my requested information.
In some sense, there is a lot of "bad blood" between the two, and this whole sewer issue could be considered spiteful by the city. And all because Sandy Township is bringing in more money due to its growing economy.
But back to the letter at hand! So I wrote this letter, to the mystery right to know officer of DuBois city. I did not hear back from them for almost two weeks! I thought they were going to blow me off, and pretend that they never received my letter. But, when I went to check my campus mail box yesterday afternoon, there was a letter from the City of DuBois in my mailbox!
When I opened it, I am happy to report that they seem willing to comply with my request, because I was given a form to fill out and I just have to mail it in.
So I did in fact hear back from them, I just need to fill out the form and mail it back, and according to the post-it note attached to the form, they will send me my requested information.
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