Before the bid opening for Seneca Valley School District’s nine-figure Intermediate High School and performing arts center project held earlier this month, the district didn’t restrict who could attend that part of the planning process.

The district communications director told the Butler Eagle that bid openings typically see only bidders and staff.

However, the scope and cost of the current project sparked wider interest. On Nov. 3, the district unveiled the potential project costs alongside new rules barring everyone except verifiable district residents and bidders — a procedure inconsistent with methods used by other county districts and condemned by a county official.

“As someone who’s observed this from afar, it gives the appearance they’re not trying to be forthright with the public,” said Butler County Controller Ben Holland, who serves as the Butler County chief financial officer and is responsible for supervising the fiscal affairs, transparency, efficiency and accountability of the county government.

“How else could you conclude otherwise?” he said. “Forbid the press? Someone clearly did not know the rules, and they were out of bounds.”

Anyone who wasn’t a bidder or couldn’t provide proof of residency in Seneca Valley school district was barred from the Nov. 3 meeting. The district checked drivers licenses at the door and Butler Eagle reporter Zach Zimmerman was told entering the meeting space would lead to his arrest.

Many school board officials in the county noted the process to bring a major renovation or building project to conclusion — balancing public input, transparency and financial considerations — takes patience.

“It’s amazing the steps you have to go through, depending on the size of project,” said Michael Panza, Moniteau School District school board president, who has been involved with projects of different sizes during his nearly two decades with the school board and 36 years in public education. “Once you figure out what you want to do, if you want to add or renovate something, the first thing you try and do is hire an architect. That itself can take a while.”

He said the process to renovate a main building can take over two years and includes jumping through many hoops for transparency, all in an effort to give taxpayers the best deal available.

Butler Area School District superintendent Brian White, who has served as a superintendent for 15 years between his current role and time at Chartiers Valley School District, said the extent of a project can determine how the process unfolds.

Projects can range in size and scope. In recent years in Butler County, Knoch School District completed a high school renovation for just under $40 million. Seneca Valley also built Ehrman Crest Elementary and Middle School for about $63 million. Recently, Slippery Rock, Mars, Freeport and Allegheny-Clarion Valley school districts have all approved and are in various stages of renovating existing buildings.

In White’s experience at Butler, the actual board meeting is not where input on the project typically happens, though people will attend to speak out on them. For past projects, White’s district has held community forums for board members to hear from people and take community feedback.

“What process is best can differ based on what the community is used to — if it’s big or small — how much of a voice they want to have,” White said. “It really depends on how community wants input. Every board of commissioners or supervisors looks different.”

When, it comes time to take action following community input, a call for bids is advertised, bids are submitted and then usually opened at public meetings before they are reviewed by administration and approved by the board, according to conversations with White and Panza about their district’s own bidding processes.

“The more people we can get to bid on the project, the idea is that we’ll get the best price for the taxpayer,” Panza said. “It’s taxpayer money. You’re trying to get the best deal for the taxpayer.”

The Butler Area and Moniteau school districts, according to the two district officials, have never barred media from bid openings.

In his role as county controller, Holland said he has overseen hundreds of bid-opening events for projects funded by taxpayer money.

Holland insisted bid openings are “by law, public events.” This includes allowing attendance of residents, other taxpayers in the region, the news media or anyone with interest in the proceeding at all.

“As the county official responsible for overseeing public bid openings for nearly 12 years, I am deeply disturbed by recent reports of the press being restricted — or worse, threatened with arrest — for attending these proceedings,” Holland said in a letter after Seneca Valley’s bid opening. “This is not only absurd, but also a disgrace to citizens and taxpayers.”

Seneca Valley’s solicitor, Matt Hoffman, has previously said the district bid opening did not meet the standard or definition of a “meeting” under the Sunshine Act, and did not have to allow news media, as it would for a general school board meeting.

Seneca Valley’s project proposal includes 200,000 square feet of learning space, including a three-story classroom wing with 44 classrooms, 12 science labs and a biotechnology lab. The project also features expanded arts and special education facilities and renovated common areas. The bid opening Nov. 3 covered general construction, plumbing, electrical, HVAC costs, asbestos abatement and architectural casework for instance.

“It is one of the largest construction proposals in the county’s history. A lot of people are going to have an interest in that. Why is it any different than a regular school board meeting?” Holland said.

Seneca Valley maintains it follows competitive bidding requirements outlined in board policy 610, as well as state law.

Those requirements include a list of directions, including that the district advertises for competitive bids as required by law and vendors prepare and submit sealed bids by a publicized due date and time.

“Our initial bid opening date had to be moved after our architect issued a few addendums, and some of the registered bidders asked for a short extension,” Ian Hunter, Seneca Valley’s communications director, said about the Nov. 3 bid opening. “All registered bidders were previously notified.”

The event’s initially planned date was advertised in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but Butler Eagle staff couldn’t find any public notice about the change of date.

“Attendance was limited to bidders and Seneca Valley residents to maintain safety and prevent disruption,” Hunter said Nov. 17. “These steps were taken solely to ensure a secure and orderly bid opening.

“Despite the enhanced procedures, the district had no intention of restricting public access to information.”

Holland, who has a background in public finance, said rules like Act 34 of 1973, also known as the “Taj Mahal Act,” are in place to cut down on corruption. In public finance, he said, the first principle is transparency. The act requires transparency and public hearings on major construction projects, including new school buildings and significant renovations.

Holland acknowledged there could have been legal reasons for Seneca Valley to postpone the originally planned bid opening Oct. 30. At the time, the district said a “major prospective bidder” requested more time to prepare and the district wanted to ensure competitive bids.

But it doesn’t appear the district advertised the rescheduling of the bid.

“That’s an issue right there, that definitely raises suspicion. They’re supposed to be held at the time in the advertising,” Holland said. “If they had a legal basis for canceling it, that’s one thing, but I would think it would have to be advertised.”

The district said that a “concerning” Facebook post contributed to the procedures implemented at the bid opening.

“The additional procedures used on Nov. 3 were specific to the safety concerns and the need to ensure an orderly, uninterrupted process for all bidders at that particular event,” Hunter said.

In addition to checking driver’s licenses for residency, Hunter noted the district also increased security measures for all visitors, including the use of the district’s Open Gate weapon detection system and the Raptor visitor management system.

The rules rolled out for the audience of bidders and validated residents included silence during proceedings, no recording of information, no disruptions or interruptions and the “district’s right to review.”

The last of the rules stated, “all bids will be subject to detailed review following this public bid opening.”

Verifying if attendees were residents is something else that Holland takes issue with. He said bid openings should be open to the public as a key part of making the process more transparent.

Hunter highlighted how the bids were made public within a week. A Right-To-Know law request from the Butler Eagle was fulfilled Nov. 10 — prior to the required turnaround time for such requests.

The school board met the same day and voted 8-1 to approve a number of bids amounting to just under $118 million in brick-and-mortar spending for the project.

Eagle assignment editor Tracy Leturgey contributed to this report.