The Commonwealth Court has granted partial relief to a Penn State alumnus seeking access to communications received by the Pennsylvania secretary of Education while on Penn State's board of trustees, possibly paving the way for the alumnus to examine information on how the school responded to the Jerry Sandusky sex-abuse scandal.
The en banc panel ruled 6-1 that the Office of Open Records erred when it concluded that it lacked jurisdiction over the records request of Ryan Bagwell, who asked for letters, emails, reports and memoranda sent from dozens of people affiliated with Penn State to Pennsylvania Secretary of Education Ronald J. Tomalis between April and July of last year. Bagwell named 38 people who may have corresponded with Tomalis, including former and current Penn State board members, board employees, prior counsel to the board, a former president of Penn State and a spokesperson for the board.
