Blytheville School Board secretary Barbara Wells revealed that the board potentially discussed topics that violate the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act when in executive session on Monday night.
During a telephone interview with the Courier News, Wells said some of the closed session discussion included dress code and who should be required to attend meetings to field questions from the board and citizens.
While it is not uncommon for school boards to go into executive sessions, they are limited on what they can discuss with only board members, the superintendent and the involved employee allowed in the room.
The Arkansas Freedom of Information Act reads: “Executive sessions will be permitted only for the purpose of considering employment, appointment, promotion, demotion, disciplining, or resignation of any public officer or employee. The specific purpose of the executive session shall be announced in public before going into executive session.”
The law also requires the board to reconvene after their executive session and to publicly vote or announce any decision made.
Also, while the general purpose of going into executive session is to discuss personnel matters of an individual, it is not permissible to go into executive session to discuss policy related to “groups of employees.” FOIA goes on to say, “in contrast, an executive session to consider general salary matters, an across the board pay increase, or the overall performance of employees as a group is not permissible.”
After the 90-minute executive session, the Blytheville School Board voted to accept the resignation of bus driver Janice Jordan.
Wells said one of the main topics in the executive session, however, was who should attend school board meetings.
Prior to going into executive session, tensions sparked when Vice President Erin Carrington began to discuss how board meetings no longer require the presence of department heads and principals since currently the board only receives a written report from each department head as a part of their emailed board packet.
“[Director of Curriculum] Sally Cooke, [Director of Facilities Randy Jumper], [director of special education Jean Cole] and whoever and your principals as far as I’m concerned - I noticed they leave to. They need to stay at this meeting,” Wells said.
“Well I think that’s something that we don’t need to be talking about in open session,” Board President Tracey Ritchey responded.
“It’s not,” District Superintendent Richard Atwill agreed.
Wells repeated that she believes that the employees who give reports should attend the meeting.
Ritchey said that the board “could not discuss that matter in open session.” Later, Ritchey also told the CN she held that belief because Wells was discussing employees, even using specific names and that they could not have that discussion in open session.
Regarding requiring the principals to attend, Wells told the CN, “I know they are going to get upset ,but I don’t care. I would like for the principals to attend the meetings” because they are only once a month.
She insists that this increases accountability to citizens who do not receive the emails or board packets.
Board member Desmond Hammett disputed that employees were being discussed.
“Well, you’re discussing them being here as part of their performance or their not being here,” Ritchey said.
The school board therefore went into executive session at approximately 8 p.m. and did not return to open session for another 90 minutes.
Wells confirmed that the board discussed dress code and whether or not certain district employees should be required to come to the monthly board meetings.
Atwill told the CN that he could not speak about what was discussed in executive session.
When asked if he would direct the board off of a subject if or when they began to discuss something in executive session that did not fall under the guidelines set by the state, Atwill stated that directing the board off of a subject would be the responsibility of the president of the board and added that he was just a guest of the board in those meetings.
Ritchey told the CN that the board did not discuss the issues that Wells had brought up prior to executive session, while in executive session.
“Well that’s not so...we did,” Wells said. “But when we said we went into executive session we went in because I knew there were some other things that I wanted to talk about and I can tell you about, dress code that’s being enforced…there is some other things that we had to iron out among ourselves with the board itself…”
Ritchey also stated that she believed any issue that pertained to employees and personnel had to be discussed in executive session.
“In the past each director gives the report: instructional report, operational report and one other report. In the last two months which is this month's meeting and last month's meeting, they’ve been emailing all board members prior, but I think that we’ve discussed that we would like for them to be there and give the report in person to us,” Wells said.
Hammett told the CN that Atwill told the board after they returned to open session that he would look into how to proceed with the department heads being at the meeting. However, he would not confirm whether or not the issue was discussed in executive session.
“We discussed personnel issues concerning Blytheville Public Schools,” Hammett said.
Hammett also mentioned that the board discussed an issue that involved hiring and firing.
However, Wells stated that no issue of hiring or firing was mentioned in executive session as they only had to accept a resignation.
“I think all those questions need to go to Mr. Atwill,” Board Member Billy Fair said when contacted by the CN.
“I cannot discuss with you what was in executive session nor can I account for what board members say. Ms. Wells speaks for herself,” Atwill answered.