Following months of turmoil among board members, capped off by accusations of racism last week, the Salt Lake City School\u00a0District board might close a portion of its meeting to the public Monday to conduct a \u201cboard self-evaluation.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not unusual for arguments to erupt during meetings, generally sparked by friction between new member Michael Clara and some\u00a0of the other members. They have clashed during Clara\u2019s attempts to discuss dropout rates for Latino students, graduation rates, a tax\u00a0increase, and his assertion that too many inexperienced and ineffective teachers work in west-side schools.<\/p>\n

Superintendent McKell Withers said the board has conducted similar self evaluations in the past and has closed portions of those\u00a0discussions. He said the board\u2019s agenda labels that time as \u201cclosed\u201d to give them the option.<\/p>\n

But some, including Clara, question the need to exclude the public. Jeff Hunt, a First Amendment lawyer, called the closing of such a\u00a0discussion \u201chighly questionable.\u201d\u00a0Hunt said that the state Open and Public Meetings Act does allow elected bodies to close meetings to talk about the professional\u00a0competence of an individual, but a board self-evaluation doesn\u2019t sound like it fits that description.\u201cIf they\u2019re talking about ways the board could more constructively interact with each other, the board members, and perform their\u00a0duties, then that\u2019s the kind of discussion the public should be entitled to hear,\u201d Hunt said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe whole public policy rationale for the Open Meetings Act,\u201d he said, \u201cis to have discussions concerning the performance of public\u00a0duties performed in public view.\u201d\u00a0Clara agrees.\u00a0\u201cWe\u2019re elected officials and everything else we do is open,\u201d he said, \u201cand I think our self-evaluation should be open because we\u2019re
\nelected officials.\u201d\u00a0Clara said he won\u2019t be able to attend the meeting because he\u2019ll be out of town. He said that though he\u2019d like the discussion to be in\u00a0the open, he does feel a self-evaluation is needed.\u00a0\u201cWe\u2019re dysfunctional,\u201d Clara said of the board.<\/p>\n

Attempts to reach board president Kristi Swett for comment on Friday were unsuccessful. Board vice president Heather Bennett said\u00a0she was not available for comment Friday because of Utah School Boards Association meetings.<\/p>\n

At the board\u2019s most recent meeting Tuesday, Clara, the board\u2019s only Latino member, read aloud a letter he wrote accusing fellow members of racism. In the letter, he said they\u2019ve mistreated him because of the color of his skin and avoided discussions about how to\u00a0better serve minority students.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have been astonished at the insensitivity that has been displayed by select members of the board, whenever the topic of serving our\u00a0ethnic minority student population is broached,\u201d Clara wrote.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has been my sad experience this past year,\u201d he continued, \u201c that many members of this board have mistreated me not only in\u00a0violation of our own ethical standards but have done so, I believe, because the complexion of my skin is different from theirs.\u201d<\/p>\n

In February, Clara filed a complaint with the federal Office of Civil Rights over the quality of teachers in west-side schools, saying his\u00a0concerns were ignored by the board and his request to place it on a spring agenda was denied. He raised the issues with lawmakers\u00a0this fall.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, he went on to say, \u201cUpon reflection, one can clearly see, this past year, the pattern and practice of disdain displayed by\u00a0select members of this board when it comes to addressing conditions facing our most ethnically diverse student population.\u201d\u00a0Other board members quickly refuted the accusations.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo read a letter like this saying we are discriminating against you because of your race … you are a hypocrite,\u201d board president\u00a0Swett said during that meeting.<\/p>\n

Board member Laurel Heath Young said that she hadn\u2019t seen discrimination in her 16 years on the board, noting that Clara is not the\u00a0board\u2019s first minority member.<\/p>\n

Board member Douglas Nelson also disagreed with Clara\u2019s assessment.\u00a0\u201cI do not doubt that you feel that way but you are living in, just speaking only for myself, a really different reality from me \u2026\u201d Nelson\u00a0said. \u201cIf you don\u2019t [get votes from other board members on issues] you\u2019re definitely not going to carry the day, but it has nothing to do\u00a0with whether you have a Latino background or not.\u201d<\/p>\n

Withers said the self-evaluation has been scheduled for months and was not spurred by Clara\u2019s accusations at the last meeting. He\u00a0said he sees how some might have questions about the right way for a board to conduct a self-evaluation.\u00a0He said the board\u2019s decision about possibly closing the meeting will be a matter of balancing the public\u2019s need for transparency and\u00a0openness against the board\u2019s need to have honest and deep conversations about the character, competence and physical\/mental\u00a0health of individuals \u2014 topics of discussion all allowed during closed meetings under Utah law.<\/p>\n

lschencker@sltrib.com\u2014<\/p>\n

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