Letter from Brian Wheeler to

The Daily Progress on Open Government & Ethics

Published July 1, 2002

June 20, 2002

Letters

The Daily Progress

P.O. Box 9030

Charlottesville, VA 22906

Open Government does not mean Open Season on Employees

I want to commend the Albemarle County School Board for taking action at its June 13, 2002 meeting to approve a revised policy on closed meetings (the board voted 5-2 to with Ken Boyd and Gary Grant voting against) and for the board’s action to sign the Virginia School Boards Association's code of ethics.

In an editorial on June 18^th, The Daily Progress called action on the closed meeting policy “worrisome” suggesting it would now be “theoretically easier” for the board to cover up illegal activity.  The Daily Progress should instead be commending the board for protecting its employees from the inappropriate release of information about employment actions and issues covered by the Freedom of Information Act's exemption for personnel records. 

The revised policy now includes the following statement: “Except where required by law, confidential information involving students or employees discussed in closed meetings shall not be publicly released or disseminated by individual School Board members except as specifically authorized by majority vote of the School Board.  However, nothing in this policy shall be construed to limit rights protected under federal or state laws regarding freedom of expression or freedom of speech."

As The Daily Progress observed, the board's discussion of this issue has focused on Gary Grant's public release on March 27, 2002 of the names of almost 40 teachers that did not have their contracts renewed for a variety of reasons.  The editorial stated that Mr. Grant does this in the name of open government and to ensure teachers who have been terminated for poor performance are not hired by other schools.  Certainly other school systems will check a candidate’s references and determine whether the teacher was involuntarily terminated. 

This closed meeting policy will specifically protect confidential personnel information.  It will not create a slippery slope limiting board member’s speech on other matters of public concern, nor will it easily cloak things that should be public.  Open government does not have to mean open season on Albemarle’s employees.  They deserve better from our school board and this change is a positive step in that direction.

Brian Wheeler