Deseret News | School boards flayed

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School boards flayed

Utah audit finds they often close meetings — and don't take notes

By Jennifer Toomer-Cook

Deseret News

Published: Friday, July 15, 2005 8:57 a.m. MDT

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School boards meet in closed sessions more often than other public bodies, with most having one every meeting, the audit states. But sometimes, they go in and out of closed meetings inappropriately, including simply opening doors and calling the closed meeting now open, also contrary to the law.

Training from the State Office of Education and Utah School Boards Association is inconsistent and insufficient, and in some cases includes misinformation, such as "the less information contained in closed meeting minutes, the better," the audit states. Some of the problem stems from that.

These issues are important to the people who voted school boards into office, said Joel Campbell, assistant journalism professor at Brigham Young University and co-chairman of the National Society of Professional Journalists' Freedom of Information Committee.

"It's the public's business. Sometimes in our culture, in Utah in particular, people get this notion, 'I was . . . given this right to govern.' But at the same time, who put you in office?" Campbell said. "We ought to be able to see how they do their job and what's behind their decisions."

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State Superintendent of Public Instruction Patti Harrington concurred with the audit findings in a written response. She also supports clarifying responsibilities of adhering to the law, adding it "may be reasonable to expect that the (State Office of Education) would provide training to superintendents and business administrators and that the (Utah School Boards Association) would do so for board members."

E-mail: jtcook@desnews.com