2. Description of each exemption. M2A2

a. Executive sessions.

Executive sessions can be held for any of the following six purposes:

1. to discuss personnel matters. See Mirror Printing Co., Inc., v. Altoona Area School Board, 609 A.2d 917 (Pa. Commw. Ct. 1992) (stating the importance of maintaining confidentiality regarding a disciplinary matter because it could be potentially “harmful to a person’s reputation or personal security.”); see also Bianco v. Robinson Twp., 556 A.2d 993 (Pa. Commw. Ct. 1989) (stating that an agency may hold a closed executive session for employment and promotion matters, but any official action must be taken at an open meeting or may be announced for a future time).

2. to hold sessions relating to collective bargaining or labor negotiations. In Lawrence Cty. v. Brenner, 582 A.2d 79 (Pa. Commw. Ct. 1990), appeal denied, 593 A.2d 426 (Pa. 1991), the court broadly construed this exemption to the open meeting requirement by holding that a decision to close a nursing home was related to a labor negotiation with the home’s staff being undertaken in an executive session. See also Saint Clair Area Sch. Dist. v. Saint Clair Educ. Ass’n, 552 A.2d 1133 (Pa. Commw. Ct. 1988), aff’d, 579 A.2d 879 (Pa. 1990) (stating that the Sunshine Act is not meant to require that labor contract negotiations be held in public).

3. to consider the purchase or lease of real property up to the time an option to purchase or lease is obtained or up to the time an agreement to purchase or lease is obtained.

4. to consult with an attorney or professional advisor regarding information or strategy in connection with litigation or with issues on which identifiable complaints are expected to be filed. See Keenheel v. Commonwealth, 579 A.2d 1358 (Pa. Commw. Ct. 1990) (holding that although it was appropriate for the Pennsylvania Securities Commission to discuss a settlement offer in executive session, it should have returned to open meeting for the actual vote).

5. to discuss agency business that is otherwise privileged or protected by law, including matters related to investigations of possible legal violations and quasi-judicial deliberations. See, e.g., Riverwalk Casino, L.P. v. Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, 926 A.2d 926 (Pa. 2007) (Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board’s private meetings regarding applications for slot machine licenses were quasi-judicial deliberations exempt from the Act’s requirements); Kennedy v. Upper Milford Twp. Zoning Hrg. Bd., 834 A.2d 1104 (Pa. 2003) (zoning hearing board, which the court defined as a quasi-judicial agency, was permitted to take a recess to conduct deliberations in private); see also In re Blystone, 600 A.2d 672 (Pa. Commw. Ct. 1991), appeal denied, 626 A.2d 1159 (Pa. 1993) (where district attorney was investigating charges against the police chief, and the decision to demote the chief was made at a public meeting, it was not required that the charges be voted on and adopted at a public meeting).

6. for certain educational agencies, to discuss academic admissions or standing. Final votes by school boards on matters such as appointments to the board or the setting of the school superintendent’s salary must be taken in public. See Cumberland Publishers v. Carlisle A.B.S.D., 646 A.2d 69 (Pa. Commw. Ct. 1994) (holding that so long as final vote on person to fill school board vacancy was taken in public, Board could discuss candidates’ qualifications in executive session); The Morning Call, Inc. v. Board of Sch. Directors of Southern Lehigh Sch. Dist., 642 A.2d 619 (Pa. Commw. Ct. 1994) (stating that votes to narrow the field of candidates for superintendent position from five to three, and then from three to one could be taken in executive session, so long as final vote on appointment was taken in public).

Official action on any of the above discussions must be taken in public. 65 Pa. Cons. Stat. §  708. See, e.g., 35 Pa. Stat. § 449.7 (allowing only executive sessions of the Health Care Cost Containment Council, during which no action will be taken, to be closed to the public).

For discussion of the notice and minute requirements for execution sessions, see Section I.E.2 supra.

b. Conferences.

“An agency is authorized to participate in a conference which need not be open to the public. Deliberation of agency business may not occur at a conference.” Conferences are defined as any “training program or seminar, or any session arranged by State or Federal agencies for local agencies, organized and conducted for the sole purpose of providing information to agency members on matters directly related to their official responsibilities.” The scope of this exception is unclear. In Times Leader v. Dallas Sch. Dist., 49 D. & C. 3d 329 (Luzerne Cty. Ct. C.P. 1988). The court ruled that a proposed meeting between a consultant and a school board for the purpose of reviewing a report was not a “conference.”

c. Working sessions.

Boards of auditors may conduct closed sessions to examine or discuss accounts or records, so long as official action is conducted publicly. No cases further explain this exception.

d. Administrative action.

“Administrative action” is “the execution of policies relating to persons or things as previously authorized or required by official action of the agency adopted at an open meeting of the agency.” For example, the revision of expense guidelines in accordance with a prior resolution constituted ministerial action which did not violate the Sunshine Act. See Common Cause/Pennsylvania v. Itkin, 635 A.2d 1119 (Pa. Commw. Ct. 1993). The term “administrative action” does not include, however, the deliberation of agency business.