By Emma Rausch
emma@thepaperofwabash.com
WABASH COUNTY, Ind. – Wabash County three school boards failed to comply with the Open Door Law when each one individually met in executive session with the Community Foundation of Wabash County, according to Luke Britt, Public Access Counselor.
In September, Manchester Community Schools, MSD of Wabash County and Wabash City Schools met in executive session with the Foundation to discuss the Studies for Advancement, according to the advertised agendas.
Foundation representatives met with MCS and MSD on Sept. 12 while CFWC officials met with WCS on Sept. 18. Both MSD and WCS cited “School Consolidation (Studies for Advancement Presentation)” for the meeting’s purpose.
Meanwhile MCS cited “a local or economic development organization that is a nonprofit corporation established under state law whose primary purpose is the promotion of industrial or business development in Indiana or the development of entrepreneurial activities in Indiana.”
Since then, the MSD and WCS school boards have hosted multiple executive sessions citing School Consolidation in regards to Studies for Advancement on their agendas.
On Monday, Dec. 18, the Public Access Counselor (PAC) determined all three meetings failed comply with Indiana’s Open Door Law.
In October, The Paper of Wabash County requested an informal opinion from the PAC regarding the legality of the executive sessions. This inquiry was prompted following an MSD Board of Trustees meeting on Sept. 26 in which the board members discussed the use of executive sessions.
During the meeting, board member Gary Fadil questioned discussing the Studies for Advancement in regards to school consolidation during an executive session that would take place following the meeting on Sept. 26.
Board Chair Kevin Bowman and board member Todd Dazey clarified that the board would not be “jumping” straight to consolidation and binding the Studies’ Phase II.
“The meeting says that because, if you look at state statues, we don’t have a whole lot range of choices to pick from as far as what that topic is going to be,” Dazey said. “In my mind, and maybe I’m all wet, but in my mind, the purpose of the executive session after this meeting is we’ve been given a lot of information (from Phase I). We’ve not had a chance to say among ourselves what questions do we have about (the Studies).
“In our last executive session—and I know I’m violating executive session rules by stating what it is we talked about in that executive session—but Carol (Lindquist) from the Community Foundation, or … she was hired by the Community Foundation, Carol came to present to us what she presented to the public. We didn’t really have a chance to discuss what questions that we have.
“And if you’re going to go by the letter of the law, Gary, that entire thing was in violation because Carol discussed the Studies of Advancement in executive session,” Bowman added.
In his informal opinion, Britt said, “Executive sessions are subject-matter-contingent scenarios, which have heightened sensitivity above and beyond regular public business. The Indiana General Assembly has recognized the need for privacy when it comes to these very narrow situations and has carved out the exceptions when it is appropriate for a governing body to meet behind closed doors, excluding the public.”
The PAC Office scrutinizes executive sessions closely, Britt continued. He later added, “Holding unauthorized private discussions behind closed doors as a majority of a governing body only serves to erode the public trust and cast doubt on the transparency of the public agency.”
In Indiana, “school corporations typically do not engage in economic development activities and it is dubious proposition to suggest that the executive session justification under Indiana Code section 5-14-1.5-6.1(b)(4)(G) would ever apply to a school corporation,” he continued, referring to MCS’s executive session. “A school corporation is a government unit and not an economic development organization.
“Therefore, based on the information provided, that executive session would be inappropriate. On the other hand, subsection (b)(2)(E) could certainly apply to school corporations because it applies to strategy discussions about school consolidation.”
However, in regards to privately discussing the Studies for Advancement, the executive session still is not justifiable under that code, according to Britt.
“Still, neither of these executive session justifications would apply for a discussion of feasibility studies,” he explained. “I have reviewed the study and school consolidation is only a very small portion of the text, and only tangentially referenced. It is much more a resource efficiency guide.
“Strategic school consolidation negotiations are almost certainly mutually exclusive from a study conducted regarding resource efficiency.”
Britt concluded, “In regard to these considerations, I recommend the school tighten-up its practices when it comes to holding these closed-door meetings.”
The Paper editor Joseph Slacian said that while the ruling is basically a moot point now, as two of the three school districts have opted out of the Community Foundation study, “we want governmental agencies around Wabash County to realize we take seriously the Indiana Open Door Law and the public’s right to know what is being discussed on important issues, such as the future of our schools.”
Following the informal opinion’s release, The Paper of Wabash County reached out to the three school boards to request comment regarding the opinion.
MCS Interim Superintendent Mike Pettibone was the sole responder.
“The executive session was held to hear the findings from an outside group that is interested in the economic health and growth of Wabash County,” Pettibone wrote to The Paper in an email. “The same findings were shared in public meetings. No action was taken or any information altered during the executive session from an outside expert. I would disagree with Mr. Britt that school corporations are not a part of economic development. The attraction of businesses to a community is often directly connected to the quality of the local schools. Schools want to prepare students and have the staffs aware of needs in the development of the entire community.
“Please know that executive sessions, in my tenure as a public school superintendent, have been used sparingly. The MCS board will be selective in areas to call an executive session and use the discretion of local attorneys if the area is in question.”
MSD and WCS officials did not respond by The Paper’s deadline.
This non-compliance of the Open Door Law is the second that has taken place in Wabash County in 2017.
On Nov. 28, in an informal opinion, Britt advised that the Wabash City Council violated the code by interviewing candidates for the Wabash City Schools board in a closed meeting.