Official: VCSC likely violated Open Door Law | News | tribstar.com - Terre Haute Tribune Star

The Vigo County School Corp. acted “contrary to the Open Door law” when it authorized a committee to operate behind closed doors and take official action on public business — the future of Meadows Elementary — outside of a public meeting, according to the state’s public access counselor.

Public Access Counselor Luke Britt posted the formal advisory opinion Wednesday. The case relates to an elementary consolidation committee that recommended the closure/repurposing of Meadows Elementary.

According to the advisory opinion issued by Britt, “VCSC concedes that the committee was formed for the specific purpose of addressing the closure of two elementary schools [and later a third]. This is public business by any legitimate and reasonable definition.”

On Jan. 11, Meadows parent Brian C. Payne filed the formal complaint against VCSC. Another Meadows parent had previously sought an informal opinion.

On Jan. 10, the Vigo County School Board voted 5-2 to close and repurpose Meadows Elementary at the end of the current school year. Recently, board member Joni Wise said she would make a motion to rescind that decision at the upcoming school board meeting.

In an earlier, informal opinion, Britt said it appeared the elementary consolidation committee that recommended the closure/repurposing of Meadows Elementary was subject to the Indiana Open Door Law.

The school district at that time maintained it did not violate the Open Door law when meetings were conducted behind closed doors and without public notice.

The VCSC responded to the advisory opinion Wednesday with the following statement:

“Today the public access counselor issued an advisory opinion concluding that the consolidation committee is subject to the Open Door Law. The Vigo County School Corp. is grateful for this new guidance as well as the public access counselor’s commitment to update the Public Access Handbook that many school corporations and governmental entities rely upon. We look forward to receiving the new Public Access Handbook.

The response continued, “The Vigo County School Corp. will implement this new guidance going forward by issuing notices that the consolidation committee will be meeting in closed sessions as permitted by Indiana’s Open Door Law and as approved by public access counselor Britt.”

According to Britt, the Open Door Law does allow for closed sessions to discuss school consolidation. But, according to the law - they “must be necessary for competitive or bargaining reasons.”

Not everything can be done in closed session, Britt said, particularly as the committee is “galvanizing its recommendation to the school board.”

The issue before the public access counselor was whether an advisory committee established by a school board is subject to the Open Door Law and, if so, whether the committee’s closed meetings constitute a violation of the law.

The advisory opinion concluded: “It is the opinion of this office that the Vigo County School Corp. authorized an official committee to operate behind closed doors and take official action on public business outside of a public meeting, contrary to the Open Door Law.”

VCSC contends the committee was not a governing body of a public agency and was not created by the school board.

According to Britt, the administration commissioned the committee to do a portion of the district’s work; the delegation came from executives of the public agency, who are delegated authority by the school board.

The committee has specific charges to advise on school business, which qualifies as taking action on public business, Britt’s opinion said.

In response to the advisory opinion, Payne stated that Meadows parents are requesting the school board reverse its decision to consolidate and repurpose Meadows and also get a second opinion on its spending cuts plan.

Parents believe the board should form a committee and have an independent study done to come up with an alternative spending cuts plan.

Also, when Wise makes her motion, “There has to be an opportunity for public comment prior to that item,” Payne said.

Payne’s opinion also is “no transparency, no referendum. Getting this right ... is of paramount importance.”

He believes the community is watching this issue “and a lot of people are on the fence about the referendum, and I’m one of them. I agree with the need for it, but I also think the school district needs to be transparent and accountable” in decision-making.

Britt said his office also has been interpreting the access statutes more liberally when it involves committees appointed by school executives/administrators. The interpretation in the past has been that only committees directly appointed by the school board or its presiding officer were subject to the Open Door Law.

In a January email, Britt stated, “Based on the way the law is written, both a school board or the administration can create a governing body that is subject to the Open Door Law. It’s fact-specific and depends on a number of factors but the ODL contemplates either. That’s often overlooked because only the school board committee statute has been litigated.”

Britt says his goal this past year “has been to revise my office’s take on that.”

What was happening across the state was that superintendents or principals set up committees as a way to get around the Open Door Law and avoid scrutiny. So Britt said he revisited the statute to see exactly what it says and “my position has narrowed on the interpretation of that statute.”

His office will remedy that interpretation in future editions of the Public Access handbook; the existing one dates to 2017 and he did not write the language on that issue, he said.

Sue Loughlin can be reached at 812-231-4235 or at [email protected] Follow Sue on Twitter @TribStarSue.

source: https://www.tribstar.com/news/official-vcsc-likely-violated-open-door-law/article_f9fd81fe-94e1-11ec-9208-8733f5240338.html

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