| By Bob Weaver
Citizens speaking at public meetings is a contentious issue in some West Virginia forums during the past year, including the Kanawha County school system which attempted to limit public comment at school board meetings.
The Kanawha system said their rationale was based on placing school board members in a position where they might make a comment about a decision under consideration.
Following a number of objections, the board returned to a limited format that allows citizens to speak, and likely allows board members to respond.
Howard O'Cull, executive director of the WV School Board Association, told the Herald, "We [school boards] have been admonished both by the Ethics Commission and by our
counsel that individuals have the right to speak before governing bodies, including county boards, as long as general tenets of statute are followed ..."
O'Cull further said "such situations appear to be in a gray area, but with most Open Meetings Law questions, there is no quick
answer."
School boards often find themselves in a difficult situation, not unlike most state and local government bodies that are quick to 'lawyer up,' often failing to make public how they have dealt with difficult problems.
At a recent Calhoun school board meeting, two citizens were denied the right to speak after they had signed to speak as a delegation during the open meeting.
The denial, according to board president Cynthia Dale, was recommended by Calhoun Superintendent of Schools Jane Lynch, based on fear that the speakers would violate a county policy maintaining confidentiality of individuals that had been involved in an alleged hazing incident at Calhoun Middle-High School.
Alicia Patterson, the mother of a 16-year-old football player was alleging her son was accosted by fellow football players, his wrists and legs bound and then taken to the floor.
Patterson is further claiming significant emotional injury to her son during the episode. He has since dropped from the team and is attending school in another county.
A second speaker that was denied was former Calhoun Middle-High School principal Roger Propst. Propst sought to speak to the board on behalf of football players involved in the incident.
The board advised both parties they could speak to the board in executive session, closed to the public. Patterson declined, with Propst accepting the recommendation.
Both parties advised the board they would not use names in discussing their issues. Both parties then released their written statements to the Hur Herald and the Calhoun Chronicle.
Board president Cynthia Dale said "We did provide Mrs. Patterson a right to speak to the board and she refused. While the investigation was being conducted, it was in the best interest of those involved to maintain confidentiality in a closed session."
Dale cited the Calhoun systems policy related to Bullying, Harassment and Intimidation, which says "Confidentiality of the filing of complaints, the identity of subjects and witnesses of any complaint, and of any action taken as a result of such complaint is essential to the effectiveness of this policy."
"Only those individuals necessary for the investigation and resolution of the complaint shall be given information about it. Therefore, the right of confidentiality of complainants, subjects, witnesses, and investigators shall be vigorously protected and violations of such confidentiality may themselves be grounds for disciplinary action," states the school policy.
In this case, both parties attempted to waive their rights to confidentiality.
There are precedents in school board meetings using an open forum to discuss contentious problems.
Numerous Calhoun parents have requested open forums before the school board discussing the expulsion of their child or other sensitive issues.
The code indicates a closed door session "To decide upon disciplining, suspension or expulsion of any student in any public school or public college or university, unless the student
requests an open meeting."
Lew Brewer with the WV Ethics Commission said "Your question appears to focus on whether the school board may limit or exclude
certain content in a delegation's presentation by insisting that the
presentation take place in executive session."
"There is no provision in the Open Meetings Act or any precedential opinion from our [Ethics] Committee on Open Governmental Meetings which addresses that issue," he said.
O'Cull continued to says "The open meetings law per
se does not require county boards to receive or hear delegations and the Ethics Commission has ruled that delegations may not have "automatic" right to speak at special meetings - or that this "right" can be denied.
"There is some thinking that delegations cannot make remarks critical of public officials or school employees," he said.
O'Cull continued "County boards do have an obligation through the presiding officer (or superintendent), to curtail remarks that are egregious and disparaging and which clearly would defame someone ..."
While West Virginia has significant public information and open meeting laws, they continue to be limited, ignored, or in some cases abused.
| 
