Lawsuit accuses Mifflinburg Area officials of violating Pa. Sunshine Act

Eric Scicchitano, The Daily Item, Sunbury, Pa.
·3 min read

Dec. 23—MIFFLINBURG — A lawsuit filed against Mifflinburg Area School Board members and the district superintendent accuses the officials of violating state law on conducting public meetings and casting public votes.

The lawsuit stems from the school board's decision to follow the order by Department of Health Acting Secretary Alison Beam that required universal masking in school buildings. The order was made effective Sept. 7 and has since been struck down by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.

Brittany Baker, who first filed the court action on her own, retained the law firm of Nauman, Smith, Shissler & Hall, of Harrisburg, to file an amended complaint in Union County Court. Baker is a district resident whose child was enrolled as a Mifflinburg Area student at the time of the officials' alleged actions, the complaint states.

Named as defendants are Superintendent Dan Lichtel and board members Wendy McClintock, board president, Mindy Benfer, Dennis Keiser, Francis Gillot, Thomas Eberhart, Janelle Weaver and Amy Wehr.

Mifflinburg Area began the 2021-22 school year with an optional masking policy in school buildings. However, it shifted to universal masking upon Beam's order. Lichtel cautioned the public at a town hall in early August that the district would likely follow state mandates should they be enacted.

Baker's lawsuit accuses the school board of voting to adhere to the order during a closed-door, unannounced executive session on Sept. 2 and not deliberating or casting the vote at a public meeting.

That allegation in addition to the district's sudden shift on Sept. 14 to hold virtual meetings violated Pennsylvania's Sunshine Act, as did subsequent online meetings in October and November, the complaint states.

The school board shifted online on Sept. 14 after alleged threats were made to district officials. The district never clarified the threats and the borough police chief said the remarks on social media were potentially concerning but didn't rise in his view to the level of a threat.

Baker's lawsuit accuses the district officials of failing to give proper 24-hour notice of the meeting change and says it didn't start on the advertised time or the delayed time as announced that night.

Pennsylvania's state of emergency during the pandemic, which expired in June, had allowed expanded use of online meetings by school boards and other municipal entities. The use of virtual meetings is much more restrictive under existing state law.

The lawsuit asks the court to grant declaratory judgment declaring the board and superintendent violated the Sunshine Act. It seeks that the court order virtual board meetings be discontinued and that all decisions made at meetings on Sept. 14, Oct. 12 and Nov. 9 be nullified. It asks the court to require Sunshine Act training for the defendants with the Pennsylvania Office of Open Records, and that a referral be made to the Union County District Attorney's Office for potential prosecution of summary offense violations.

The district's solicitor, Austin White of McCormick Law Firm, Williamsport, hasn't yet filed a formal response to the amended complaint.