Boards of education often wish to gather together to "touch
base" with members of their community or merely wish to
discuss and work through issues they are facing, without any
intention to take official board action or have a formal board
meeting. Such sessions are certainly useful and have the potential
to be very productive, but, as we all know, the West Virginia Open Governmental Proceedings
Act places many restrictions on how and when board members may
convene as a group, what may take place, and what, if any, public
notice is required.
The applicable West Virginia statute defines "meetings"
which are subject to the open meetings requirements at W. Va. Code § 6-9A-2, as follows:
"Meeting" means the convening of a governing body of a
public agency for which a quorum is required in order to make a
decision or to deliberate toward a decision on any matter which
results in an official action.
However, there are exceptions to this definition, including the
following:
- General discussions among members of a governing body on issues of interest to the public when held in a planned or unplanned social, educational, training, informal, ceremonial or similar setting, without intent to conduct public business even if a quorum is present and public business is discussed but there is no intention for the discussion to lead to an official action[.]
A work session has been defined by West Virginia Ethics Commission Advisory
Opinion as a meeting where a quorum of the board will be
present, and issues requiring official action will be discussed and
considered, but there will be no official action or voting at the
meeting. However, a work session is subject to the same notice
requirements as an official board meeting, and the date, time,
place, and agenda must be publicly posted. True work sessions
should be noticed in this manner, so that there can be an open
discussion between the public and the board members, and among the
board members about issues raised at the meeting.
There are rare occasions upon which a board of education may plan a
meeting in advance to discuss relevant issues without complying
with the open meetings law's provisions. If, however, the board
truly intends to discuss only matters that will not require any
future action or vote, then the notice and publication requirements
do not apply. A pertinent example would be a planned training
session where the superintendent has invited attorneys to provide
board members with legal information/workshop, such as basics of
the reduction in force process, how to properly conduct employee
hearings/student expulsions, or similar topics. While possibly of
"public interest," such training sessions would not
comprise any intent to conduct public business or discuss matters
which might require board action. (See West Virginia Ethics Commission Advisory
Opinion, for example of educational or training workshop.)
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.