A state senator alleges that state education director Ryan Walters and the Oklahoma State Board of Education, which Walters heads, violated the Oklahoma Open Meetings Act on Thursday when the board did not allow her to attend a closed board meeting .
Sen. Mary Boren, D-Norman, said the board’s refusal to allow her to attend the meeting “jeopardizes the procedures of the Oklahoma State Board of Education and raises a legal inquiry.”
After a board meeting that lasted more than 6½ hours — nearly four hours of which were behind closed doors — Walters, a Republican, waved away a question about what happened.
“Our attorneys feel like it’s pretty open and shut,” Walters said. “They pointed to the statute, explained it to the senator, who didn’t want to hear it (and) stormed off. But it was a pretty clear attorney-client privilege issue there. They walked her through it multiple times. She didn’t want to hear it. I can’t comment on that.”
The Oklahoma Open Meetings Act allows legislators to attend closed meetings, which are closed to the public: “Any member of the Legislature appointed to a committee of either house of the Legislature or a joint committee thereof may attend any closed meeting authorized by the Oklahoma Open Meeting Act of a state agency, board, or commission when the jurisdiction of such committee includes the actions of the governmental entity involved.”
On Wednesday, one of Boren’s colleagues, state Sen. Adam Pugh, R-Edmond, participated in an executive session at a meeting of another state agency, the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education, without any issues arising. During that board session, discussions included lawsuits involving the state regents.
Although she was not legally required to do so, Boren sent an email Thursday morning to the board’s attorney, Cara Nicklas, and Michael Beason, the general counsel for the Oklahoma Department of Education, informing them of her intention to attend.
“This is a notice that I will assert my legislative authority to conduct the executive session of the State Board of Education scheduled for today,” Boren wrote, attaching a copy of the aforementioned charter. “I currently serve on the Senate Committee on Education Appropriations and Budget, the Committee on Administrative Rules, and the Judiciary Committee, which has sufficient jurisdiction to conduct the executive session.”
But when the board went into its first of two closed meetings on Thursday, Boren was denied access. She confirmed that she was told “that attorney privilege prevented them from allowing me to participate.”
What was discussed during the closed meeting?
According to the meeting agenda, most of the discussion in the closed session of the Education Council focused on decisions regarding teacher licensing, specifically the suspension and revocation of licenses.
“I expected the board hearing to include decisions that would likely incur significant legal costs by misapplying administrative rules and unconstitutionally attacking teachers and students’ rights,” Boren said.
Phil Bacharach, a spokesman for the attorney general’s office, said of Boren’s exclusion: “That does appear to be a violation of the Open Meetings Act. State lawmakers on relevant committees have a legal right to attend closed meetings of relevant agencies.”
A Senate spokesperson agreed with Bacharach’s comments.
Boren remained in the board’s conference room in the Oliver Hodge Building on the Oklahoma State Capitol complex until the board filed out of its first executive session, took a quick vote and then returned to what turned into a 3.5-hour closed session. Boren then left the building.
“I am disappointed but not surprised that the State Board of Education has conveniently interpreted the Open Meetings Act to exclude me from their board meeting in my official capacity as a state senator,” she told The Oklahoman. “Their meeting will likely involve the application of administrative rules, which will add significant legal costs for the unconstitutional targeting of teachers, and student rights. All of these issues fall within my role as a member of the Education Appropriations and Budget Committee, the Administrative Rules Committee, and the Judiciary Committee.”
“Given the highly authoritarian approach of the State School Board to suppressing the rights of parents, teachers, and readers, it is warranted that a state senator observe the closed meetings. Observation is the basis of accountability to ensure that state officials uphold the Constitution of the United States and Oklahoma in their proceedings.”
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Senator says Ryan Walters and board of education violated Open Meetings Act
