School Board Violating the Open And Public Meetings Act (Video)

At the March 5th, 2013, School Board Meeting about an 1 hour and 42 minutes into the meeting the board president brought up the minutes for our January 8, 2013 meeting. I had initially asked for a minor change and to have my “Point of Order” letter included as part of the minutes. Instead of doing so in our February 5th meeting the board president pulled them from the agenda and we did not act on them. I had made the request a total of six times via email, letter or in person.

Above is a picture of B-2 School Board Meetings Administrative Procedures. It states the following:

5. Recordings and Minutes for Board Meetings:

a. Written minutes and recording will include:

• he date, time and place of the meeting;

• the names of the members present and absent;

• the substance of all actions taken;

• the names of all citizens who appeared and a brief summary of their testimony; and

• any other information that any member requests be entered in the recording and minutes.

The underlined part is what I quote in the meeting. This language comes right out of the Utah Code 52-4-203.   Written minutes of open meetings — Public records — Recording of meetings.

Yet this stumps the School Board President and other members of the school board and now we are going to expend our neighbor’s tax dollars and have an attorney come in and explain it to us.

What am I missing?? I have been on the Board for two months, serving with people who have been on the board for a decade and this is the first time this has come up?

They did not invite the attorney at the next meeting as was agreed. The following month they did however, concede that they were not following the open meetings act: Link to Blog Posting

Denied GRAMA Request

PDF GRAMA Request P#1                 PDF GRAMA Request P#2   On February 25, 2013 -I submitted a ‘Government Records Access And Management Act  (GRAMA) request to the superintendent.  I know that he received because I sent it certified mail and received the return-receipt. Superintendent Whithers also acknowledged receiving it in an email to the school board. It’s a shame that as a sitting school board member, I have to submit a GRAMA request in order to receive information. The is yet another … Continue reading

School Board Meeting: Michael Clara Responds to Verbal Attacks (video)

Salt Lake City School Board Meeting-March 5, 2013 -Michael Clara responds to the verbal attacks leveled at him in the public meeting by a school teacher and the UEA President. They displayed their public anger against Michael because he filed a complaint on behalf of the students in his community. … Continue reading

Complaint Sent to the Office for Civil Rights (Letter)

  TEXT OF ENTIRE LETTER: 26 February 2013 DELIVERED VIA CERTIFIED MAIL: 7011 2000 0001 2979 3769 Mr. J. Aaron Romine, Regional Director U.S. Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights Cesar E. Chavez Memorial Building 1244 Speer Boulevard, Suite 310 Denver, CO 80204-3582 Re: Disparities In Instructional Resources  Dear Mr. Romine, I am the newest member of the Salt Lake City Board of Education. I am filing a complaint with your office on behalf … Continue reading

Are School Boards Too Insulated? (Deseret News)

By John Florez , Deseret News Published: Saturday, March 2 2013 12:00 a.m. MST Sometimes the cover up is worse than the problem. School boards often appear to avoid dealing with serious policy matters. At Salt Lake school district meeting last week, board members were listening to a presentation by their staff regarding the district’s Student Achievement Plan. One of the presenters noted a correlation between student achievement and teacher effectiveness, which prompted newly-elected board … Continue reading

Salt Lake City School District Favors East Side, Says Board Member (KSL)

By Andrew Adams  Link To Video SALT LAKE CITY — Is Salt Lake City’s east side better than the west side? When it comes to elementary school teachers, one school board member thinks so. Michael Clara filed a federal complaint accusing the Salt Lake City School District of not allocating enough resources to west side schools. Clara said there are too many inexperienced and ineffective teachers at west side elementary schools, due to attrition. Why … Continue reading