Board of education keeps discussion of "options and strategies" secret

The central purpose of the Open Meetings Law is to ensure that all meetings of public agencies where public business is discussed will be open to the public. Lately the board appears to be ignoring the law in favor of a higher priority - saving face.

But it's not working.

Still reeling from the recent flight of Barbara Erwin, their preferred candidate for Education Commissioner - one they defended to an unreasonable extent - the Kentucky Board of Education continues to spend extended time in closed session these days.

If the board actually did something, those actions taken in closed session might become reversable upon complaint. But the fact is, we don't know what the board is talking about, except for when they tell us. Yesterday they were discussing "options and strategies."

By refusing to discuss the selection process in public and by changing their minds on a month-to-month basis, citizens are left to wonder - Does the board really have a plan to move Kentucky forward?

Apparently the board is still trying to figure that out for themselves. Apparently they don't want the public to see their deliberations, or perhaps, their divisions.

Considering human nature, that's understandable.

But is it legal?

Two weeks ago the board voted to keep Kevin Noland as interim commissioner, but with the intention of hiring a new interim person quickly.

"We left that meeting thinking that was the best route to go but we came back today and, after discussing options and strategies, we decided to refocus," board Chairman Keith Travis told the Courier-Journal after yesterday's 2 1/2-hour closed-door meeting.

Discussing "options and strategies" is not listed among the legal exceptions to the Open Meetings Law.

On July 11th the board met in a closed session for about an hour to discuss its expectations of then commissioner-select Barbara Erwin, despite an objection from the Courier-Journal that the private discussion was in violation of the state's Open Meetings Law. "Your objection is noted," Keith Travis said. "There are some things we want to discuss that are personal in nature."

"Personal in nature" is not listed among the legal exceptions to the Open Meetings Law.

But the board chair shrugged it off.

The board of education also shrugged off Leon Mooneyhan. After his seduction and abandonment, some wonder if Travis lacked the board's backing when he entered into negotiations on behalf of the board? WHAS TV's Mark Hebert opined, "...it's clear board chairman Travis led Mooneyhan to believe he was getting the interim job. And Travis was either A) powerless to make it happen or B)politically and professionally inept in his dealings with Mooneyhan."

Mooneyhan, currently the chief executive officer of the Ohio Valley Education Cooperative, told the Courier-Journal he was "...concerned about the decision because the board has a tarnished reputation in terms of the feelings of the public," he said. "And I believe it could have acted in a more proactive way."

Mooneyhan told Hebert:

"I've never been subjected to a more unprofessional set of circumstances in all my life." Mooneyhan says the way the board muffed the hiring of Barbara Erwin and fumbled his candidacy "undermines my view of the board's ability to find a good commissioner for the children of Kentucky." And he agreed with a C-J editorial, Mooneyhan saying " the governor may need the board to resign. They are dysfunctional."

Travis said the decision to ask Noland to remain did not result from disagreement among board members about hiring Mooneyhan.

Board member Doug Hubbard told C-J, "What it really came down to is that because we're pressing forward in the search for a permanent commissioner … it might not be best to go to a new interim."

So, where are we now?

• Kevin Noland continues as interim.
• Applications are being accepted for the permanent position.
• There is no ending date to the search process on the KDE posting.
• Travis says the board will be aggressively pursuing a permanent Commissioner.
• The board plans to meet again on August 8.
• At that meeting, the election of new board leadership will be on the agenda.

What else?

• Is the board coasting until August?
• Is there a search committee?
• Is the board acting as a committee of the whole?
• Is there some process that board members understand?
• Is anyone advertising, reviewing applications, checking references and screening candidates for the board?
• Does the board expect so few applicants that they will now be choosing from among a handful of candidates rejected (and perhaps not even interviewed) during the search that produced Erwin?
• Does yesterday's change of direction indicate that the board already knows who they want "to apply?"
• Can this board walk and chew bubble gum at the same time?

The only clues came from Travis's comments to the press: "There's a Web site advertising (the post). And certainly we're going to explore the need to be advertising more heavily," he said. "But obviously … this search has been quite visible probably nationwide."

Unfortunately, the nationwide publicity Kentucky has received lately isn't likely to attract anyone. And because everything is being discussed behind closed doors - it's not clear who on the board, if anyone, is working on it. And Travis's description of what the board is doing is...well...something less than awe-inspiring.

This is no way to reclaim the public trust.

~

On another matter, Martin Cothran would like us to know that he does not always speak for the Family Foundation, and that the Family Foundation has not taken a position on the Penny Sanders nomination. I said as much, and was apparently confused by his vere loqui post: "Penney Sanders for State School Commissioner."

When he speaks for the Foundation, and when he doesn't is a little unclear, so he lets' me off the hook a bit saying, "Although I often post official press releases and other relevant things from The Family Foundation, my blog is not an official organ of the organization. It is my opinion only. I used to have a disclaimer on this blog somewhere, but I guess I have taken it off. Maybe I need to put it back up again."