Oklahoma Senator considers legal action against school board

OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — A state lawmaker says she is prepared to take the school board and state Superintendent of Schools Ryan Walters to court, alleging they violated Oklahoma’s Open Meeting Act by denying her participation in closed session discussions last week.

State Senator Mary Boren (D-Norman) says the law makes it very clear: As a member of the Oklahoma Senate Education Committee, she should have had access to the chamber during the Oklahoma State Board of Education’s board meeting last week.

In addition to the members of the State Board of Education and their legal staff, State School Superintendent Ryan Walters and several of his senior staff regularly attend board meetings, including last week.

“We just don’t have enough people to hold Superintendent Walters accountable,” Boren told News 4. “And one of the basic duties I am legally empowered to do is to observe closed session hearings to make sure he is held accountable.”

She said several items on the agenda at last week’s board meeting caught her interest.

“There was an item on the agenda regarding the disqualification of a school board member, and that was voted on in closed session,” Boren said. “And then there were several items on the agenda regarding other teachers who had just been discernified… I knew that was really important to my district.”

She says she informed the state school board’s attorney before last week’s meeting that she intended to exercise her right to attend the board meeting.

“Last Thursday, I emailed the board’s attorney and informed her that I intended to attend the board meeting that was scheduled for that day,” Boren said. “And when they adjourned the board meeting, I went to the attorney and said, ‘Hey, did you get my email?’ And she said, ‘Yes.’ And she said, ‘Come this way.’ So I started walking with her and turned around to go into the boardroom to that door.”

However, she says the lawyer never let her in the door.

“And she said, ‘Wait a minute, Mary, we need to talk. You can’t go in there.’ And I said, ‘Oh.’ And then I was told that they didn’t think I had any legal connection to what was going on in closed session and that they also felt that attorney-client privilege would be violated if I were there to watch.”

Tim Gilpin is an attorney, former State Board of Education member, and former Oklahoma Assistant Attorney General. He knows Oklahoma’s Open Meeting Act well.

He told News 4 that the law allows MPs serving on an agency’s oversight committees to attend that agency’s board meetings.

“In order to begin a closed session — meaning all spectators must leave and only the board, board chair and board counsel can be present — the Oklahoma Open Meeting Act requires that only certain topics can be discussed in closed session,” Gilpin said. “There is a small restriction that one of our state legislators who serves on a specific education committee is allowed to attend.”

Gilpin says he is not aware of any provisions in the Open Meeting Act that would have allowed the state school board to make an exception in Boren’s case.

“I don’t know why they didn’t want (Boren) there, but I guess a judge has to decide what’s going on,” Gilpin said.

Boren says she wants an opinion from Attorney General Gentner Drummond on whether the committee was lawful in denying her access.

“And when that happens, I hope to take the matter to the Department of Education and the attorneys for the State Board of Education and explain to them why the law is what it is and why their decisions last Thursday were not consistent with the law. I would ask them to reconsider their position so that they can act in accordance with the law in the future,” Boren said.

Boren says if she is still denied access, she is prepared to sue.

“I am preparing to meet with lawyers to file a petition to enforce the Open Meeting Act,” Boren said.

If Boren sues and a judge finds that the state school board willfully violated the Open Meeting Act, Gilpin said several things could happen.

“Violating the Open Meeting Act can result in fines,” Gilpin said. “For very serious offenses, it can even result in jail time. The idea is that these public officials are not discussing or deciding issues in a closed session. It’s not like a good old boys’ meeting where they decide the issues and nobody sees or hears anything.”