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PAB reviewing school board tapes

Posted March 16, 2016 11:00 pm

By Pete Spitler Staff Writer

The Public Access Bureau of the Illinois Attorney General's office is reviewing, on an Open Meeting Act inquiry from the Herald Tribune, executive session minutes from Chester District 139 Board of Education meetings in January and February.

The Herald Tribune has alleged, in part, that the board did not comply with the requirements of OMA by holding discussions that should have been public during closed sessions on the meeting dates of Jan. 21 and Feb. 18.

The Herald Tribune electronically filed its request for review on Feb. 19.

In a March 4 letter to the PAB and forwarded to the Herald Tribune, Interim District Superintendent Rick Goodman replied to the bureau's request for additional documentation and information for its review.

Enclosed with the letter was a list of items the district would provide - the agenda for both meetings, the minutes for both the open and closed sessions of each meeting and the verbatim recordings of the closed sessions of those meetings.

Goodman indicated the closed session recordings would be sent via certified mail only. The Herald Tribune was notified of the board's response by the PAB on Wednesday.

"(The board's) response really didn't make any substantial arguments," said Assistant Attorney General Shari West, who has been assigned to review the inquiry. "The response didn't contain any more information other than providing the documents."

West noted that isn't unusual.

"Some public bodies rely on just what they consider the facts," she said. "They are basically relying on the record."

At the board's December meeting, the topic of changing athletic conferences was first brought forward in open session by Chester High School Dean of Students Jeremy Blechle, who is also the school's football and baseball coach.

Board member Dan Colvis asked if the topic could be further discussed in executive (closed) session and was told by then-Interim Superintendent Bill Riley that it could not. The topic was then discussed openly.

Goodman took over the role on Jan. 1 for his half of the year. In comments to the media following the January meeting, Goodman said the athletic conference topic was discussed "briefly" during closed session.

The topic was tabled by the board until the February meeting, when it failed to get a motion. The Herald Tribune has also inquired whether the board improperly discussed class scheduling at CHS during the closed session of that meeting.

"Hopefully, we will get a draft circulated next week or the following week," West said on when a determination letter may be sent. "Multiple attorneys will review it and that may take longer."

The Chester BOE met Thursday for its March regular meeting with the agenda item of "To discuss pending litigation" listed under executive session.

During media availability after the meeting, Goodman was asked if the PAB's inquiry was the reason for that agenda item.

"Yes," he said.

Goodman was asked if the board would have a response at this time.

"No," he said.

As part of its public access work, the Attorney General's office may issue advisory opinions to guide public bodies, may issue binding opinions in OMA and Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) disputes and may sue to enforce those binding opinions.

West told the Herald Tribune her office handles more FOIA requests than OMA inquiries.

"We do get a lot more FOIA requests, for sure," she said. "For OMA, not as much, but we do get a lot of files."

Under state law, penalties for violation of OMA by a public body include the possibility of criminal or civil action.

The Attorney General's Office states that a state's attorney may bring criminal action for violation of OMA, which is a Class C misdemeanor punishable by up to 30 days in jail and a $1,000 fine.

In a civil lawsuit for violation of OMA, the court may take a number of actions - including ordering the public body to make the closed session minutes available to the public and granting an injunction against future violations by the public body.

On Wednesday, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan released the PAB's annual report that detailed 4,770 FOIA and OMA requests received in 2015.

"My Public Access Bureau continues to receive an increasing number of requests for assistance to obtain public records," Madigan said in a news release. "We have made progress in fostering greater transparency in Illinois, but it is clear we still have work to do to ensure access to government at all levels."

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