New Albany-Floyd County school board discusses transparency of meeting info

Rebecca Gardenour, board president, said she wanted to find a way to get information the board receives prior to a meeting out to the public so they can tell what the board is considering with each decision.

“I feel this is taxpayers’ money,” Gardenour said. “I think people have a right to see what we’re doing and the bottom line is transparency.”

Board agendas are typically available the Thursday prior to a meeting. Gardenour said they receive their packet of information on the same day and multiple attorneys have told her that information isn’t necessarily privy only to the board.

Brad Snyder, deputy superintendent, said he had multiple concerns with getting that information out to the public immediately. He said it’s possible media outlets could incorrectly publish information as a done deal rather than something that’s on an agenda for consideration. He also said the relationship between the board and administrators is such that they can communicate openly as it is, but that may change if board packets are released prior to meetings.

“We wrote to you so you could make good decisions,” Snyder said. “We didn’t write to 70,000 people. We didn’t write to people who have axes to grind or issues against us. If we start writing that way, our vernacular, our language will probably shift to nouns and verbs. Our relationships will change and we will be required to do less work.”

D.J. Hines, board member, said he was also concerned about releasing information, such as whether a personnel report that includes a medical leave, would violate laws. He also questioned if releasing information on issues like expulsions for board consideration would become problematic.

After the meeting, Luke Britt, Indiana Public Access counselor, said if information that would violate HIPAA or Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act statutes — such as expulsion information — the board couldn’t release that information to begin with.

However, he said an employee’s medical leave on a staffing report probably wouldn’t fall under HIPAA protections anyway.

School districts and other governmental agencies in the state release some information publicly prior to meetings, including Greater Clark County Schools. Through a web-based program called BoardDocs, anyone can access some documents, including contracts, presentations and other materials.

Greater Clark also follows a policy to release personnel reports only after the board has voted upon them.

Bruce Hibbard, superintendent, said board members were elected to handle matters on the agenda themselves and they were entrusted to that information regarding those agenda items.

“I also think in the area of your positions, as elected officials, it’s representative democracy in that the community has vested in you, because you’re elected, the ability to get that information and make wise judgments based on that,” Hibbard said. “That’s probably why in the past, I wasn’t here in the past, why the decision was to give that opportunity to the board to see it before it goes public.”

Hines said he thought it would be unfair if someone read the information before a meeting, then caught a board member somewhere in public before a meeting to sway their vote one way or another.

“That political pressure that’s put on the one board member can taint their view,” Hines said. “It may be a justified reason to change your view and I’m OK with that, but you know there can be a lot of political pressure. We end up making political decisions, not rational decisions that are good for the organization.”

Lee Ann Wiseheart, board member, said she thought getting that input was a central part of serving on the board and that she was in favor of transparency to the public.

“I feel like I’m elected because I’m the voice of the community, these are their schools,” Wiseheart said. “It’s their money, it’s their schools, we represent them. I don’t have all the answers, so I welcome people to approach me in the yard and in the grocery store because that’s what I took an oath to do, is to represent the people who want to speak to me. I still vote for the best interest of the children.”

The board will further discuss the release of that information prior to meetings, as well as whether to televise board meetings on WNAS, at a work session at 6 p.m. May 18.