Excerpts from The Eagle's View By Klaus Gaebel--Post Star
EXECUTIVE SESSIONS: Executive sessions are a portion of a school board meeting that doesn’t take place in front of the public. There are times when boards have to be allowed to talk in private; discussions involving current litigation, for example. To help insure that the right to such private discussion isn’t abused by boards, school law (2:69) says a motion is needed to go into executive session at a school board meeting and “the motion should specify the subject or subjects to be discussed.” The November 13 school board meeting contained a resolution, presumably worded by the superintendent, since he mainly creates the agenda. The executive session was for two specific topics and would further include “any confidential matters brought up by the Board of Education.” That’s no good. Such a catch-all would open the door to discussions that aren’t legitimate behind closed doors. In September the board voted 8-0 to set up guidelines for the superintendent to properly explain the reason(s) for an executive session. The superintendent claimed at the November meeting he was at a loss as to what was wanted. The September resolution shouldn’t have been necessary. The existing plainly worded law should be enough for the superintendent to follow. |