Dear Fellow Board Members,
When I was a new hire at the Cache County Attorney's Office nearly two decades ago, Cache County Attorney Scott Wyatt told me something that I have never forgotten and that is we, as government employees, cannot pick and choose which laws, policies and rules we follow - we must follow them all. I have never forgotten that wise counsel and it has served me well through my personal and professional endeavors.
When I was in the May 9, 2014 Executive closed session, I became concerned by some of the issues discussed. I was concerned because we had closed the meeting to discuss what was on the Executive session agenda: UPPAC issues and appointment recommendations. In the end, we discussed much more than that and in fact, Supt. Menlove and staff were asked to leave the meeting to discuss the Superintendent and his position although we didn't discuss his "character, competence or health." I was unsure how to proceed with my concerns, especially after the newly hired deputy attorney general quit shortly after that.
In July, I was invited by Supt. Garrett/Logan City School District and Supt. Norton/Cache County School District to attend the Superintendents annual conference; they mentioned it because it was held at the Cache County School District this year. Imagine my surprise when I arrived to find that the State Board of Education was on the agenda with a presentation. My surprise turned to shock when Chair Crandall and Board-member Johnson had a power-point presentation that I (and probably many of you) had never seen or heard about; it was a one-sided piece about the ESEA waiver. The school superintendents had been very clear about their feelings toward the ESEA waiver before this meeting and expressed their concerns about a one-sided presentation. Is this how the State Board of Education operates? Small groups doing their own thing but representing the State Board as a whole? Giving one-sided presentations without the knowledge or input from other board-members? The ESEA waiver was a divided issue and the only presentation that should have been given that day was the presentation by Vice-Chair Thomas as we had all seen it beforehand and it presented both sides of the issue.
In the August 8, 2014 Executive closed session, again, we discussed a number of issues other than what was on the agenda; additionally, an allegation was made about what I would consider to be the misuse of power or authority by Board-member(s). I was so troubled by the meeting that I spent last Saturday and Sunday trying to determine if I wanted to even stay on as a member of this Board. I eventually emailed Dave Thomas, Supt. Menlove and deputy Attorney General Chris LaCombe and informed them that I planned to re-listen to the closed sessions of the May and August meetings; I wanted to make sure my recollections were accurate and I decided that based on what was on those audio recordings would determine how I would proceed as a Board-member.
Imagine my surprise when I came home from a vacation this week to an email and a press release indicating Supt. Menlove announced his retirement to take place next Friday and our Executive leadership made a decision to appoint Joel Coleman as an interim superintendent. As a Board member, I am frankly appalled. There was no public discussion, no time for input from our constituents and no open discussion or vote as a Board. While I have no idea about the qualifications of Mr. Coleman as I have never met him, I am stunned that a decision would be made without following the legal procedure for doing so. The only information I have about Mr. Coleman is from what I have read in the newspapers. What I gather is, we are preparing to enter the 2015 legislative session with an interim superintendent who does not hold the qualifications that we, as a Board, have decided we want to have in a State Superintendent, who hasn't ever been a teacher in a public school system and will try to be both the State Superintendent and the Superintendent of the Utah Schools of the Deaf and Blind. While I understand we hope to have a Superintendent hired and ready to begin in the next few months, what happens if the person we choose to hire isn't available for a month or two after the job offer? What if that person needs to give some notice at his/her job or needs to relocate? Shouldn't there be a public discussion by the Board about this decision before it is made and press release is issued? Please note that our bylaws indicate: "If necessary, the Board may appoint an Interim State Superintendent to fulfill the duties of the State Superintendent, and set the terms and limits of the interim appointment." Our bylaws further indicate, "It is the Board's presumption that actions will be taken openly and deliberations conducted openly." Thus, I believe it is the Board who appoints an interim superintendent, not just our Chair and Vice-Chair; further, it must be done openly, not simply the Chair and Vice-Chair sending out an email or calling Board-members to tell them the deal was done.
In the August closed Executive session, there was a comment made about the Audit Committee closing their Thursday meeting; I would like to review that comment because I do not believe the Audit Committee has the legal right to close a meeting. Further, I do not believe that if the Audit Committee has concerns about issues, they can keep those concerns to themselves and act on those concerns themselves without involving the entire Board. I found it interesting that Paul Rolly/Salt Lake Tribune, in his article, "Deputy's departure signals rift in Utah education" indicates Supt. Menlove and staff were asked to leave the Audit Committee meeting while the Committee discussed an issue. Interestingly, in the August Executive session, most on our Board was informed we weren't privy to that issue either.
Folks, the Open and Public Meetings Act was put into law for a reason. We, as an elected public body, must be transparent in our dealings, discussions and votes with each other and with the general public. We cannot hide behind the mantra of a "closed" meeting whenever Board-members want to shield discussions from the public and we simply can't have a small group of Board-members meeting privately to make decisions - this is one of the main reasons we have the Open and Public Meetings Act. I don't know how many of you have recently read the Open and Public Meetings Act, but we can ONLY discuss very specific items in a closed session; to do otherwise is a Class B misdemeanor. Because my professional life is centered around the criminal justice system, let me be blunt: a class B misdemeanor is what I would be charged with if I abused my spouse or child, if I shoplifted at my local grocery store or if I were caught with drug paraphernalia. A B misdemeanor is punishable by up to 6 months in jail and a $1,000 fine plus an $850 surcharge. In essence, the legislature made it very clear that elected and public bodies must follow this law or face serious consequences.
I have not ever shirked on the wise counsel given to me nearly two decades ago and I am certainly not about to do so now. I will not compromise my values and integrity for a position on the State School Board - it simply isn't worth it to me. Simply put, it is much more important for me to stand up for what I believe is right than to win an election or keep a seat on the State Board of Education. Board-members, the media knows we have serious problems on the State Board as they report on it regularly, the public knows it, employees at USOE are quite aware and it is only a matter of time that the way we are conducting ourselves comes to light. At this time, I believe I have an ethical obligation to call attention to the current activity; we are not following the law and I for one, am not willing to face an investigation of misconduct and/or possible prosecution for what I consider to be illegal activity.
May I suggest the following:
1. I am requesting an immediate open and public meeting to discuss an interim superintendent to replace Supt. Menlove. I would like to receive input from my constituents (including community members, parents, educators, principals and superintendents). We need to follow the law in choosing an interim superintendent; it can't be a discussion where a few people throw some names out and then the Executive leadership chooses who they want. Please note that I understand this may be uncomfortable and embarrassing; however, it is the legal and ethical step to take. Further, I believe this step may begin the process of restoring our credibility and reputation to the general public. If we as the Board decide to appoint Joel Coleman, that is fine as long as it is done in an open and public meeting pursuant to the law.
2. Because the May and August Executive sessions were conducted with two different attorneys from the Attorney General's office, I believe we need to have an independent review, by an Administrative or District Court Judge, of those closed Executive meetings to determine what can be released publicly.
3. I am requesting the Audit Committee release recordings of all meetings for the past year to all members of the Board. If there are no recordings, I would like to know why. Additionally, I would like an explanation to the entire Board as to why the Audit Committee chose to close the meeting to Supt. Menlove, USOE staff and the public in their August 7, 2014 meeting. Board-members, there are 15 voting members and 6 non-voting members of this Board; each of us has equal power as that is a main purpose of a Board. According to our Bylaws, "The Board exists to aid in the conduct of the people's business." A few members, doing their own thing, does not follow that bylaw.
4. We need an immediate training on the Open and Public Meetings Act and we need to make a united decision, as a Board, to follow this law. The training needs to be presented by an attorney with the Utah Attorney General's Office; specifically an attorney extremely familiar with the Act itself. I would be happy to contact the Attorney General's Office and arrange a training on the Open and Public Meetings Act at our next meeting.
5. We need an investigation by an independent and impartial investigator regarding the allegation made about possible misuse of power and authority. Frankly, if board-member(s) are misusing power and authority, we need to, as a Board, deal with that so that it doesn't continue to happen.
Fellow board-members, it is clear that there are critical problems facing our State Board and the Utah State Office of Education; we are in the process of hiring our 3rd State Superintendent in a handful of years, we have key management employees leaving as soon as they are able to and we just had a vital employee leave with tears in her eyes and her head held low. To me, this is absolutely unacceptable and the rate of turnover at the State Office of Education is alarming at best. I believe this Board needs to make serious and immediate changes and ask that you strongly consider the above suggestions so that we may avoid further complications to our responsibilities; we owe it to our constituents and to ourselves.
I am asking Chair Crandall to call for an emergency meeting so that we can conduct our actions and deliberations about an interim Superintendent in accordance with our bylaws.
Thank you,
Terryl Warner
District 1
