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Brownsville Area reveals identity of terminated employee

By Eric Morris emorris@heraldstandard.Com 3 min read

The Brownsville Area School District revealed the name of an employee terminated in January at a special meeting of the school board.

In response to a Right-to-Know request filed by the Herald-Standard, the district identified the individual as Bruce Eilam, a district security guard.

The board, at the recommendation of district Superintendent Dr. Keith Hartbauer, had voted at the Jan. 25 meeting to terminate Eilam, who was identified on the agenda only as “Employee A,” a nonprofessional employee of the district.

The district initially declined to reveal the Eilam’s name or position following the meeting.

At the time, board solicitor Jeremy Davis said he did not feel it was appropriate to reveal that information, or the nature of the termination, due to pending grievance procedures.

Under Service Employees International Union (SEIU) contract, a terminated employee has 30 days to file a grievance with an independent arbitrator, who could choose to uphold or deny the termination, Davis said following the meeting.

Davis could not be reached for comment Monday afternoon to ascertain whether Eilam filed a grievance.

According to attorney Melissa Melewsky, media law counsel with the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association, the employee’s name should have been made public record in accordance with state law.

Section 708 of the Right-to-Know Law makes certain employee information is public record, including name, position, salary, employment contract and length of service, said Melewsky.

In addition to the public information protected by the Right-to-Know Law, the Pennsylvania Sunshine Act requires school boards to provide an opportunity for meaningful public comment prior to all votes. That cannot happen if the public does not know the name of the person whom the board is voting to terminate, Melewsky said.

Melewsky said the two laws do not require the district to publicly disclose the reasons for termination.

At Davis’ suggestion, the Herald-Standard filed a Right-to-Know inquiry with the district Jan. 31, requesting information pertaining to Section 708 of the law.

The district responded by requesting a 30-day extension to the initial response window of five business days, citing the need to perform a legal review to determine whether the requested information is subject to access under the Right-to-Know Law.

The district fulfilled the Right-to-Know request Friday.

At the January meeting, school directors Andy Assad and Rocky Brashear voted against the motion for Eilam’s termination. Directors Andy Dorsey and Cheryl Terravecchia abstained from voting, citing a lack of information available to the board on the matter.

Eilam was hired by the district in February 2017 at a salary of $16,229.

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