Pennsylvania Code › Title 22 - EDUCATION › Part XIV - Professional Standards and Practices Commission › Chapter 233 - BYLAWS-STATEMENT OF POLICY › Section 233.114 - Confidentiality and unauthorized release of information

Current through Register Vol. 54, No. 28, July 13, 2024
(a) Under section
				17.2 of the act (24 P. S. §
										2070.17b), information relating to
				complaints, or proceedings relating to or resulting from complaints, including
				the identity of the complainant, will remain confidential unless discipline,
				other than a private reprimand or a supplemental sanction deemed private by the
				Commission, is ordered. If proceedings, after the exhaustion of all appeals,
				result in discipline, other than a private reprimand or a supplemental sanction
				deemed private by the Commission, all records pertaining thereto will become
				public. Records relating to immediate discipline are public at the time the
				immediate discipline is imposed.
(b) Disclosure of information previously made
				public as a result of action by a school entity to discipline or dismiss an
				educator for cause or as a result of an educator having been formally charged
				with or convicted of a crime is permitted. The confidentiality provisions of
				the act are not intended to prohibit a school entity from using information
				previously known, or received through its own investigation, in fulfillment of
				its duties under the Public School Code of 1949 (24 P. S. §§
										1-101-27-2702), including those duties
				associated with local dismissal proceedings.
(c) Members, staff and employees of the
				Commission, the Department, local school entities and participants in
				disciplinary proceedings shall comply with the confidentiality requirements of
				the act. Correspondence between and among the Commissioners and staff persons
				containing confidential material will be marked as personal and confidential,
				and precaution will be taken to avoid unauthorized disclosure.
(d) Under section
				17.2 of the act, a person who
				releases or gives out information deemed confidential under the act, without
				the authorization of the Commission or as authorized by the act, commits a
				misdemeanor of the third degree, unless the information was known to the person
				or available independently of the disciplinary proceeding.
(e) Petitions for authorization to release
				information under section
				17.2 of the act shall be filed
				with the Commission in accordance with 1 Pa. Code §
									35.17 (relating to petitions
				generally). Petitions shall be served on all interested parties, including the
				Department and the affected educator. Interested parties shall have 20 days or
				the number of days set by the Commission from the date of service to respond to
				the petition. In determining whether to grant the petition, the Commission will
				consider the public interest and the interests of all affected parties,
				including the petitioner, the educator and the Department.
(f) This section does not apply to
				reinstatement proceedings or to proceedings under section 9.2 or 9.5 of the act
				(24
				P. S. §§
										2070.9b and
				2070.9e).
(g) Nothing in this section is intended to
				deny an educator access to information necessary to prepare a defense in a
				disciplinary proceeding or to protect an individual from civil liability if the
				individual participated in the disciplinary process under the act maliciously
				or provided false information that the individual knew, or had reason to know,
				was false.
(h) The Commission, in
				releasing information to the public, will take all steps reasonably possible to
				protect the identity of any child or student involved in the disciplinary
				proceeding.
This section cited in 22 Pa. Code §
											233.113 (relating to disciplinary
					 proceedings).