From the Legal Hotline

By Teri Henning, General Counsel; Melissa Melewsky, Media Law Counsel
Pennsylvania Newspaper Association

Q: A school board wants to run a legal ad for a “special meeting” tomorrow but we are past our advertising deadline. The school district says a news article is an acceptable alternative. Is the school district correct?

A: No. In Bensalem Tp. School Dist. v. Gigliotti Corp., 415 A.2d 123 (Pa.Cmwlth.,1980), the Commonwealth Court held that a news article was not sufficient to meet the public notice requirements of the Sunshine Act. The school district failed to advertise a public meeting at which a disputed ordinance was passed although a short news article ran in a local paper one day prior to the meeting.

The school district is required to give at least 24 hours advance notice of the date, time and place of the special meeting in a newspaper of general circulation as well as posting the same information at their principal office or the meeting place. If the board fails to give adequate notice, a court could declare the meeting illegal and void any official action taken in violation of the Sunshine Act.

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