Q: The school board I cover voted to fire their solicitor at their regular meeting last night. That item was not on the meeting agenda; they added it by majority vote during the meeting, and then voted on it. Is that legal?

A: Sadly, yes, it is. But only for 53 more days!  

This practice of adding an agenda item at a public meeting has been legal since Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s November 2025 decision in Coleman v. Parkland School District, 346 A.3d 1266 (Pa. 2025). In that decision, the Supreme Court created a loophole under which government agencies could add any matter to a meeting agenda, during the meeting and without notice, by a majority vote.

But here is some good news.

As of Monday, December 21, 2026, only matters included on the published agenda can be acted upon at a public meeting, with a few limited exceptions. 

This change is a result of a Sunshine Act amendment that was signed into law by Governor Shapiro on October 22, 2026. The amendment had broad bipartisan support, as the issue caused by the Coleman decision was widely seen to be extremely problematic as it gave government agencies substantial power to take action without transparency. 

The new law, Act No. 103 of 2026, requires government agencies to continue posting their meeting agendas 24 hours ahead of time on their website, if one exists, and at the meeting location. 

Under the limited exceptions in the new law, agencies can only add items to the agenda after publication for:

• A matter of agency business relating to a real or potential emergency involving a clear and present danger to life or property;
• A matter that is de minimis in nature and does not involve the expenditure of funds or entering into a contract or agreement by the agency; or
• Any matter raised by a resident or taxpayer – however, if not de minimis in nature/if it involves the expenditure of funds or the entering into of a contract or agreement by the agency, the only official action the agency can take at the meeting is to refer the matter to staff for the purpose of researching the matter for inclusion on the agenda for a future meeting.

Under the new law, in order to add one of the above-listed exceptions to an agenda at the last minute, the agency may only add the matter to the agenda if a majority of the individuals present and voting approve the addition AND if the reason for the change to the agenda is announced at the meeting prior to any vote to make the change to agenda takes place.

After a successful vote on one of the limited exceptions, the agency may take action on the matter but the agency must post the amended agenda to its website, if one exists, and at the agency’s principal office location, no later than one business day after the meeting at which the matter was acted upon.

This is a big and positive change to the law of access to public meetings and the team here at PNA is grateful to Sen. Pat Stefano (R – Bedford/Fayette/Somerset/Westmoreland)  and Rep. Robert Freeman (D – Northampton) for their tireless effort on this important issue, and to Sen. Jarrett Coleman (R – Bucks/Lehigh) for his support and for his underlying litigation seeking to hold government officials accountable.

As always, this is not intended to be, nor should it be construed as legal advice. News media organizations should contact private counsel or the PNA Legal Hotline at (717) 703-3080 with questions.