Tuesday, July 07, 2009

C-J Challenges JCPS Closed Session on Berman

I can understand why a district would want to defy the Attorney General's Opinion that a superintendent's evaluation must be held in public. But the argument that criticism is the same thing as discipline still seems to violate the opinion.

An AG's opinion has the force of law until overridden by a court or the legislature.

Surely, superintendents will seek a new law to take this issue out of the AG's hands.

This from C-J:


JCPS meeting about Berman might be illegal

Board evaluation held in private

A closed-door meeting conducted last week by the Jefferson County Board of Education to evaluate Superintendent Sheldon Berman may have violated a state attorney general's opinion requiring that such evaluations be done in public.

The Courier-Journal filed a formal complaint Monday with board Chairwoman Debbie Wesslund about the June 29 closed meeting, in which board members discussed Berman's job performance over the past year.

After the closed session, the board issued a public statement commending Berman.

Jeremy Rogers, a lawyer for the newspaper, said that, depending on the board's response, the newspaper could pursue the complaint with the attorney general's office...

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