School Board Mulls Pulling Plug on Closed- Session Record Keeping
by Donnelly Clare
School board officials are questioning whether minutes should be taken during closed- session meetings.
Board President Dwight Stevens and Vice President Christine Scott were listed on the November 14 public meeting agenda to speak on the matter, but Stevens removed the discussion from the agenda shortly after the meeting began. The proposal was initiated by Stevens at an earlier board meeting, who cited the cost of a board employee being present to record the minutes, as well as board members’ discomfort with having their ideas written down during the closed sessions.
“Ms. Scott was going to talk about why it should continue as it was, then I would have followed on why it should change,” Stevens said, but did not elaborate on why the discussion was removed from the agenda.
Whiting resident Reid Rocheleau said he agreed the district should save money where possible, but not at the expense of keeping records.
“Closed- session discussions aren’t meant to protect the school board,” said Rocheleau. “It makes me suspect there is abuse going on.”
He added if the board decided not to keep minutes, the press should be permitted to cover the closed- session meetings to ensure transparency of the elected body.
Former school board member Jeff Presley told the board he was disappointed in them.
“It is your obligation to record what happens in those sessions. It’s the simple fact that you have an ethical obligation to the people who voted you into office,” Presley said.
“I’m not saying there’s anything unethical going on in those sessions, but a record keeps people honest.” Presley added his past experience tells him record-keeping forces elected officials to be accountable for what they say.
“How do we know conflicts of interest don’t weed themselves in the conversation? If there’s no notes taken, how do we know?”
President Stevens said results of board votes would still be recorded by a clerk under the proposal.
Under Wisconsin law, public meetings may go into a closed (private) session to iron out sensitive details of a competitive or bargaining nature, or employee reviews, discipline or other legal issues prior to public consumption.
Board member Renae Sheibley said she considers herself a representative of the people, adding many constituents have told her they wanted “more transparency” from the board.
Stevens said the matter could be discussed at a future meeting.
“Closed- session meetings are to protect the individual, or in cases of discipline and things like that. Some people are reluctant to talk about it if someone’s gonna be taking down every sentence.”