HOLLIDAYSBURG - The Bellwood-Antis School District resident who lost a public records case in Blair County court said Wednesday that he will not pursue an appeal.
Timothy Andrekovich said the decision by President Judge Jolene G. Kopriva was unfortunate and a loss not only for him, but also for district residents and taxpayers.
"If the Office of Open Records wants to pursue it, that would be good, but I don't have the $150 an hour for an attorney for this," Andrekovich said.
Kopriva's ruling, which became available Tuesday, overturned a January 2009 decision by the state Office of Open Records ruling that weekly information memos between Bellwood-Antis Superintendent Brian Toth and the district's school directors are public documents.
The office, set up under legislation that updated the state's public records law, said the memos prepared by the superintendent have "an official purpose" and should be available for public review. The office said specific personnel information could be redacted.
Kopriva ruled that the memos meet the law's definition of pre-decisional deliberations and thus, are not considered public records. While the law does not forbid the release of such documents, the option of doing that rests with the governmental agency.
Barry Fox, deputy director of the state's Office of Open Records, said the office is not in a position at this time to help Andrekovich pursue an appeal, but it is monitoring these kind of court rulings in the interest of open government.
The updated law created his office so that an average citizen could pursue records without assistance, Fox said, but it doesn't provide help through the appellate process.
In Blair County Court, where the Bellwood-Antis School District appealed the Office of Open Records' decision, Andrekovich represented himself.
"I respect Judge Kopriva, and she treated me very well in court," Andrekovich said. "I'd never been to court, and she explained some things ... things I
didn't know to do. I would like the Office of Open Records to pursue this. They know the law."
Andrekovich said he fears that hiring an attorney for an appeal will be costly because it's already been costly for the school district to appeal the decision. District records show it paid $5,775 in legal fees for this case only.
Mirror Staff Writer Kay Stephens is at 946-7456.
