Oshkosh School Board accused of violating open meetings law - WBAY
OSHKOSH, Wis. (WBAY) - A complaint was filed on Wednesday accusing the Oshkosh Area School District of violating the state’s open meetings law.
It happened when board members met in private August 25th, before starting the meeting because of a disruption in the audience by people refusing to wear a mask in violation of district policy.
According to paperwork filed with the Winnebago County District Attorney’s office, board members violated the law when they left the room to discuss the situation privately in the superintendent’s office, away from the audience. You can read the full complaint at the bottom of this article.
Action 2 News was at the meeting and caught the moment on camera.
“The school board went into closed session for a half hour and nobody knows what they talked about right now. That’s the whole point of the open meetings law is that when public officials are gathering together and discussing public business the public gets to know what they are talking about,” said Tom Kamenick of the Wisconsin Transparency Project.
Kamenick filed the complaint on behalf of his client, Oshkosh parent Kristy Walsh who was among the people in the audience, refusing to mask up.
“They’re only limited reasons that a school board, board of education or any other governmental body can go into closed session and they didn’t meet any of those exemptions,” he added.
A spokesperson for the school district responded to the complaint by saying, “As a District, we are committed to compliance with the Open Meetings Law and ensuring that the public’s rights are respected. While we have not received notice of any complaint from the Winnebago County District Attorney’s office, we are aware that a complaint has been filed by the Wisconsin Transparency Project. We are committed to working with the district attorney on any details as/if needed.”
Action 2 News also reached out the district attorney’s office, but we haven’t heard back.
Kamenick said, “State law actually requires a decision to be made in twenty days so three weeks or so from now we should now what the district attorney will or will not be doing.”
If board members are found guilty of violating the law, Kamenick says they can face fines up to $300 per member.
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source: https://www.wbay.com/2021/11/11/oshkosh-school-board-accused-violating-open-meetings-law/
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