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Dismissed Myself...
For the record, I was in Central Office today for a couple of meetings. One was the policy review committee which Maura, Pam, and myself serve on and will be presenting policy update recommendations to the board and public over the next several months. Second was a phone conference with all board members to discuss next week's action item, Health (Sex Education) Curriculum. I relayed my concerns over the topic of the conference and the fact that, in my opinion, it was a topic and discussion that should be discussed during public session. I believe this conference was in violation of the Open Meetings Act. I dismissed myself from the meeting and left the room.
3 comments:
And your fellow board members continued with the meeting merrily without you? Was Mr. Schwartz, the staff attorney, there? Was he consulted? What was his response?
Ms. Abell, I appreciate your concern with regard to compliance with the Open Meetings Act. I wish the other elected members would share your sense of responsibility to the public.
When I read this post, I was reminded of a comment made some time ago on this blog:
”When I attended Board of Ed meetings, I often felt as if I were walking in long after the fact -- that the members had all discussed whatever the issue was (and I'm not talking about personnel, real estate, or legal topics), and all that was really left was the public vote. Or not -- there were also times when I expected issues to be on the agenda, or assured they would be topics of discussion...but there was no mention of them at all.
[Complaint Filed Against the BOE by a Board Member, Ready, Willing and Abell, November 18, 2006]
I care what the elected board members think. I want to know the questions they have, the concerns they raise, and the answers that are provided. Reasonable expectations, I think.
LegalBeaglette,
The remaining board members continued with meeting either in person or via phone. I asked for Mr. Schwartz but he was out of the building. I didn't feel comfortable with the situation and dismissed myself. I personally do NOT want to be held in any violation of the Open Meetings Act.
I forget. Isn't this the same board that made all sorts of campaign promises about being more transparent? This board is no better than the last. In fact, they are worse because they identified the problem, ranted against it and then turned around and have done the same thing. I will be voting differently next time. These current members are a HUGE disappointment!
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