When the Pennsylvania Legislature approved open-records reform some 18 months ago, cheers went up in the rooting section for open government.

For years, Pennsylvania had been in the dark ages in the areas of open records and open meetings. The state laws were among the worst, if not the worst, in the nation in protecting citizens' rights to open government.

The new laws, which took effect a year ago in January, made government agencies more accountable in opening their records and their doors to public scrutiny. But, there are still far too many loopholes and far too little enforcement.

Enter the lawyers.

Two recent cases involving area school districts and challenges from the public regarding openness have hinged on the interpretations of their solicitors.

In Pottstown, school board solicitor Stephen Kalis reported last week that members of the Neighborhood Schools Committee violated Pennsylvania's open meetings law if they discussed matters on which they might vote when they met privately.

Earlier, Kalis had said the meeting in question was not a violation because the three-member committee did not constitute a quorum of the school board.

The matter came to light on March 2 when school board member Thomas Hylton, who chairs the Neighborhood Schools Committee, confirmed he had privately discussed his proposal for the elementary schools with the other two members of the committee, Nat White and Valerie Harris.

Hylton said he did not believe it to be a violation because his committee did not represent a quorum of the full school board.

Kalis said he was not sure, initially, whether the committee constituted "an agency" under the definition of the law. His research then showed it does, he said, thus the meeting was illegal.

Hylton has in the past criticized the district for having a "culture of secrecy," but he did not question or dispute Kalis' advice.

In the Daniel Boone Area School District, questions have arisen about a budget document that was not released to the public although its contents were discussed at a meeting. The document proposes three tiers of expenses being considered in preliminary budget proposals to balance the district's budget, currently showing a $2.2 million deficit.

Board President Kevin F. McCullough said district solicitor Brian Subers determined the document is a "predetermination document" and thus not required to be released to the public under the state's Right-to-Know laws.

According to discussion at a previous meeting, the document included a look at eliminating as many as 83 aide positions.

Pennsylvania's open records reform reversed the premise that most documents are considered closed and replaced it with the premise that most documents are open unless proven otherwise.

But, it doesn't work that way. The government agencies generate the documents; their lawyers interpret whether or not they are considered open, and the public often does not even know what they're missing.

It's hard to ask for something you don't know about.

The same applies to meetings. The challenge and the determination comes after the fact, and citizens are left shaking their heads.

In the end, everybody loses when meetings and documents are kept secret. Taxpayers in Daniel Boone might have some good suggestions of their own on how to peel back expenses; Pottstown parents may provide input on neighborhood schools that could help frame a proposal rather than just react to it.

The problem with secrecy is that secrets remain on both sides, and without information passing back and forth, opportunities are missed.

Right-to-Know laws remain open to interpretation. Inevitably, what's lost in the translation is trust.

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