Clark County Board of School Trustees meet away from public
From Sunshine Review
September 16, 2009 The Nevada Policy Research Institute reported that the Clark County Board of School Trustees in Clark County, Nevada had implemented a practice so trustees meet with other elected officials to discuss public business in private.[1]
[edit] Closed meetings
It seems school board advisory committees and appointees are holding closed meetings as well.
The board of trustees organized the Bond Oversight Committee (BOC) in the late 1990s. It is an independent body with the purpose of providing financial, bond and investment oversight of the district's capital improvement program. It is supposed to assure the public of district accountability.
In April, school district staff moved school architect selection process to the Purchasing Department, which decided to put the usual, favored contract firms in with the smaller firms for modernization or renovation work. The Nevada Policy Research Institute reported that together the five prototype firms have received more than $145 million from new construction jobs in the last 10 years, compared to $10 million earned by approximately 30 smaller modernization companies.
Committee members requested the new architect selection process return to the committee for discussion and new recommendations to the board of trustees.
There had been no public resolution to the conflict until August 12, 2009, when the school district called a "staff meeting" in a closed session with no public access.[1]
[edit] Against Open Meeting Law
An audio recording of the August 20 BOC meeting shows that from the secret meeting came a list of architect selection process recommendations for the BOC's vote. It appears the meeting's attendees reached a decision to return to a tiered selection process, which would keep the current list of architects until May.
The committee did not provide public notice according to the Nevada Open Meeting Law, yet the members referred to it six times on the August 20 meeting.
The Nevada Policy Research Institute requested a copy of the meeting agenda as well as the back-up materials and audio recordings, all allowed by the Open Meeting Law. BOC staff responded that the August 12 meeting was a school-district "staff meeting" for discussions.
Section 3.03 of the Nevada Open Meeting Law states:
- "However, when a public body delegates de facto authority to a staff committee to act on its behalf in the formulation, preparation, and promulgation of plans or policies, the staff committee stands in the shoes of the public body and the Open Meeting Law may apply to the staff meetings ... [T]he Office of the Attorney General opined that the Open Meeting Law did not apply to internal staff meetings of an executive agency or interagency staff meetings except where a public body delegates policy formulation or planning functions to a staff committee and these policies or plans are the subject of foreseeable action by the public body."
The Nevada Policy Research Institute asked, "Can staff act upon the recommendations or conclusions drawn in these meetings without full BOC approval?"
The Institute also asked who attended the meeting. The Institute's researcher received an e-mail from CCSD information specialist David Roddy saying, "Sally will no longer respond to questions sent directly to her. You will need to send your inquiries through the Communications Office."[1]
[edit] External links
[edit] References
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