The lawsuit by the media coalition alleges the school board violated state law in two ways. First, the lawsuit alleges, the board did not properly declare the meeting an executive session because it wasn’t specific enough about what members planned to discuss.its 2020 policy that barred police from schoolsFero argued during the hearing that the notice “made clear” that the executive session would involve a discussion about the East shooting and security arrangements.
“How long would a notice have to be to cover all the points?” he asked, adding, “This was a five-hour executive session. This notice could have been five pages long.” Board members also protected themselves from liability, which they could have faced if they took no action, by writing the meeting notice as they did, Fero said.
When directors emerged from the closed meeting they had a prepared memo, which temporarily reversed the 2020 policy, and they voted unanimously to enact it without any public discussion. And for that reason, the lawsuit also alleges, the board also violated state law by making policy decisions during a non-public session.
The memorandum “effected a 180-degree change in district policy,” said attorney Steven Zansberg, who is representing the news organizations in the case.