Entry No. 002 · Recovered from the Record
Final Determination Obtained
Pennsylvania Office of Open Records · Docket AP 2026-1329 · June 26, 2026
Four Marks of Diligence AwardedAn agency was ordered to conduct a good-faith search. Unsupported claims of privilege were held to require actual evidence, not assertion alone. The order stands whether records are produced, or their absence is sworn to under oath.
The Official Record
Pennsylvania Office of Open Records
Docket No. AP 2026-1329
v.
Octorara Area School District, Respondent
▸ Final Determination issued and mailed: June 26, 2026
▸ Senior Appeals Officer: Blake Eilers, Esq.
▸ District’s submission on appeal: None filed.
The Sequence Navigated
Right-to-Know requests filed — March 3, 2026
Standard thirty-day agency extension observed without objection
Denial received; appeal filed — April 3, 2026
Position statements submitted — April 17 and 20, 2026
Extension of the Final Determination due date agreed to
Response to OOR’s request for clarification — June 9, 2026
No submission received from the agency on appeal
Final Determination received — appeal granted in part
What the Determination Ordered
Ordered
A good-faith search
The District is required to actually search for the requested records — a standard the Determination states plainly, rather than assumes.
Ordered
Evidence behind privilege claims
Conclusory assertions of privilege were held insufficient on their own. The Determination cites the governing case law directly.
Ordered
Search for the probable-cause affidavit
The District must locate and produce any sworn affidavit provided to state police in connection with the underlying matter — or attest under oath that none exists.
Noted
A district director’s objection, now on record
A sitting board director’s documented objection to certain taxpayer-funded legal expenses is now referenced within a Pennsylvania state administrative ruling.
Ordered
Insurer and outside-counsel communications
Correspondence with the District’s insurer and retained law firms must be produced, or withheld only on a properly evidenced claim of privilege.
Ordered
A sworn affidavit, if no records exist
Where the District maintains no responsive records exist, that position must now be sworn to under oath rather than simply stated.
Marks of Diligence Awarded
Present Standing
Keeper of the Record
“The record does not always tell the whole story. But it usually tells more than the summary.”
Next standing: Primary Source Evangelist
Reached by: records produced, or a sworn affidavit of non-existence received. Either serves the archive.
Curatorial Note
Translated from its original presentation for accession into Experience Hall’s Achievement Literacy Registry — content and sequence preserved, visual register re-set to match this collection’s archival family. Consistent with the standard applied throughout this collection, individuals are referenced by role rather than by name.