JACKSON TWP — About 20 bids for the Seneca Valley School District’s proposed $165 million intermediate high school renovation were opened and read aloud at a Monday, Nov. 3, meeting held at the district’s aquatic center, according to bidders and residents who were allowed to attend the event.

A Butler Eagle reporter was told he would be arrested if he entered the meeting, which was intended “solely to publicly open and read aloud the bids that have been received” for the proposed nine-figure project. The reporter read a packet that was distributed at the meeting and acquired through a resident who attended.

Only prospective bidders and Seneca Valley School District residents were permitted to attend. Those who attended were instructed to sign in with their name and address or the company they represented. Recording the bid opening was also prohibited.

“This session is being conducted in accordance with Pennsylvania public bidding laws and district policy to ensure a fair, transparent and orderly process,” the packet said.

Several residents told the Butler Eagle the project’s total brick-and-mortar cost, as read at the meeting, totaled roughly $108.392 million. Initially, the project’s brick-and-mortar cost limit was set around $114.65 million, approved by the school board under Act 34 guidelines.

Melissa Melewsky, media law counsel for the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association, criticized the district’s actions Monday afternoon.

“When a school district or any government agency conducts a bid opening that is open to the public, the press has a coequal right of access,” she said. “The press stands in the shoes of the public; it serves as the public’s eyes and ears and facilitates the transparency that public bidding laws are designed to ensure.

“School districts cannot selectively exclude journalists from public bid openings or treat them differently without violating the First Amendment’s guarantees of freedom of the press and equal access to information.”

Those who attended the meeting were asked to produce identification to prove residency within the school district and show identification.

Several bidders, who declined to be identified, said there were about 20 bids placed for various areas of work. Bids included project aspects like general construction, plumbing, fire protection, electrical work, architectural work and asbestos abatement, according to those who attended the meeting.

The project has generated controversy around the Seneca Valley School District due to its cost, with parents and community members both supporting and opposing it.

A legal notice, which was published three times in October — on Oct. 2, 9 and 16 — advertised for bids in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

It stated bids would be accepted no later than 10 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 30, at the aquatic center.

“Shortly thereafter, bids will be opened and read aloud,” the notice said.

An email from the district’s communications director, Ian Hunter, indicated Thursday that the “receiving of bids has been postponed to a different date.”

“Our architect issued a few addendums, so some of the registered bidders asked for a short extension,” he later said in another email. “The new bid date is November 3 at 3:30 p.m., and all registered bidders were previously notified.”

Head of security Jason Young pulled aside Eagle staff writer Zach Zimmerman and told him the meeting was open only to the bidders and residents of the school district and that no media was allowed. Zimmerman was then made to leave the meeting.

Several minutes later, Zimmerman attempted again to enter the meeting, citing that the meeting was open to the public and reporters should be allowed to enter. Another security guard opened the locked front entrance and stood in the way, preventing Zimmerman from entering.

Young said the district’s solicitor, Matt Hoffman, said it was at the district’s discretion on whether the meeting was open to the public and that prompted a conversation with superintendent Tracy Vitale, who said no to press attendance.

Zimmerman asked if he would be arrested were he to enter the meeting space. Young said, “yes.”

Citing Supreme Court cases that protect rights of the press, Melewsky said the press should have been allowed to attend the bid opening.

“Accordingly, when, as here, the public has a right to attend a bid opening, the government cannot single out the press for negative treatment without running afoul of the First Amendment and creating potential liability and harm to the public trust,” she said.

Hunter said Monday evening the board is actively considering the dollar figures presented and will release more information at next week’s general meeting.

Prior to a Seneca Valley school board meeting Monday evening, Hunter said the superintendent and solicitor would be unavailable for comment. When Vitale was approached after the meeting, she referred to the district solicitor.

Hoffman, the district solicitor, said opening of bids Monday afternoon did not meet the definition of a “meeting,” according to law.

“It was not a meeting, that’s why. If it had been a meeting, with deliberation or board decisions, then sure. But it wasn’t,” Hoffman said. “In the Sunshine Act, if you look up what the definition of a meeting is, the definition of a meeting is undertaking official action, or deliberation. Simply opening those bids is not a meeting, by definition.”

Board president Eric DiTullio acknowledged the bid opening was delayed due to a “major prospective bidder” requesting more time to prepare. He said time was granted “to ensure competitive bids.”

“All prospective bidders were notified of the changed date,” DiTullio said. “We’re not prepared as a full board to render a decision yet.”

At the bid opening, the district was represented by its business manager, Dana Kirk, and Randy Miller, its director of buildings and grounds. Also present were John Pappas, the project’s principal engineer, and multiple representatives from CannonDesign architecture firm.