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Obey the Law On Meetings

Serious accusations against at least some members of the Switzerland of Ohio Board of Education have been leveled by district Superintendent John Hall. They should not be dismissed out of hand.

Board members have agreed to appoint Ken Darby to fill a vacancy created when Justin Isaly resigned June 21. Isaly left the board because he was moving outside the school district.

Darby himself should be sensitive to Hall’s accusations. He was instrumental in action by the Beallsville Keystone Committee to block the board’s plan to close the high school in that community.

In fact, board member Denise Riley said Darby’s involvement helped prepare him to work with the school system. “You know all the bylaws, you know the policies, you know all the sunshine laws,” she said of the new board member.

It is that last, sunshine laws requiring the board to discuss many matters during formal sessions open to the public, that is at the heart of Hall’s complaint.

During the meeting at which they appointed Darby, Hall accused board members of discussing the matter among themselves openly and with applicants for the board position. Such behavior means “this process has been tainted,” he added.

Board members improperly agreed to vote for Darby before the public meeting, Hall charged. He added that some members asked applicants if Hall had asked them to seek the board position.

That prompted a strong denial from board member Jackie Hupp. “We haven’t discussed this with each other,” she said, accusing the superintendent of trying to turn public opinion against the board.

Unfortunately, members of the public have some reason for concern. One reason cited by a judge in ordering that the closure of Beallsville High School be delayed a year was that some board proceedings were in violation of the sunshine laws.

This may be one of those “he said, she said” situations making it difficult, if not impossible, to get at the truth.

If nothing else, Hall’s accusations should prompt board members to be particularly careful about complying with open meetings and open records laws in the future. Sooner or later, violating the statutes comes back to bite public officials — as it did in the BHS case.

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