CETF Issues Formal Complaint to NYS Committee on Open Government

***FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE***

Community Education Task Force
PO. Box 15604, Rochester, NY 14615
http://communityeducationtaskforce.rocus.org

Monday, January 3, 2011

ROCHESTER, NY—The Community Education Task Force and supporters issued a formal complaint to the New York State Committee on Open Government this morning, arguing Superintendent Jean Claude Brizard's request for the School Board to meet in Executive Session to discuss proposed school closings would violate state Open Meetings Law.

The group of parents, teachers, and community members believes that Superintendent Brizard, who faces growing public distrust and anger, is maneuvering for a secret meeting in order to avoid public participation in his ongoing efforts to convince the school board to close neighborhood schools. The school closing proposals prompted angry parents, students, and teachers to speak out at last month's school board meeting with overflow crowds.

See (Plan to close Rochester schools on hold, Tiffany Lankes • Staff writer • December 17, 2010):
http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20101217/NEWS01/12170317/100....

The way to respond to public outrage in a democracy, say CETF members, is to listen to what the people are saying and to work with an informed public to make policy. The superintendent's latest move is another example of his mode of operating, which violates basic democratic processes in the interest of secrecy and control. This move, charges CETF, is illegal on its face.

According to the Open Meetings Law, "It is essential to the maintenance of a democratic society that the public business be performed in an open and public manner and that the citizens of this state be fully aware of and able to observe the performance of public officials and attend and listen to the deliberations and decisions that go into the making of public policy." There are specified circumstances under which a public body, by majority vote, may move from public deliberations into private Executive Session. One of those involves discussions of leased property, but only when discussing that property could affect its market value. Apparently the School Board's counsel is rationalizing a secret discussion of school closings on the grounds that property leasing will be discussed. CETF believes this is clearly deceptive, since RCSD administration, school board Commissioners, and School Modernization board members have all participated in public meetings in which the issue has been discussed repeatedly and in detail. In fact, interested members of the public are able to recite, due to having been informed matter-of-factly at multiple meetings, that the cost to rent "swing space" (as an alternative to using Schools 2 and 6 as "swing space") would be $3 Million annually, which is prohibitive in this time of austerity budgets.

CETF is challenging the legality of tonight's meeting for a second reason: According to the same Open Meetings Law, public bodies are required to post notice of public meetings in advance. For meetings scheduled less than a week in advance, the Board is still required to post the information publicly according to what is "practicable" and reasonable. No reasonable public notice has been issued regarding this evening's meeting on school closings, which is egregious given the well known public interest in this particularly controversial policy proposal.

We call for this evening's meeting to be rescheduled in order to meet the minimal legal requirements of New York State Open Meetings Law. We call on the school board to exceed legal requirements and schedule, publicize, and encourage full public participation in matters of such serious concern to us, your constituents.

CONTACT:

Mary Adams
(585) 317-2367

Tim Adams
(585) 739-0376