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Judge cites CMS for open meeting violations, orders changes to better inform public

JEFF SINER/jsiner@charlotteobserver.com

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education violated the state’s open meetings law in 2021-22 and has been ordered by a judge to take steps to protect the public’s right to know.

While Superior Court Judge Nathaniel Poovey described the violations in 2021-2022 as “unintentional” and “partially caused” by the pandemic, he ordered the board to better advertise its meetings and to follow the law in how it handles closed sessions.

The ruling came in response to a WBTV lawsuit accusing the board of multiple sunshine violations, including blocking the public from attending open, in-person sessions. The complaint also claimed that the board mishandled closed meetings — from not properly advertising them or keeping adequate minutes to failing to make the required public motion before going behind closed doors.

Title IX task force not in violation

At the same time, Poovey, the senior resident Superior Court judge in Catawba County, said the school board had not violated the open meetings law by excluding the press and the public from meetings of its Title IX Task Force, which was made up of mostly students.

That group, which was formed to help improve the school district’s handling of sexual assaults in the schools, is not a “public body,” and so is exempt from the law, according to Poovey’s order. The judge also denied WBTV’s request that the board pay the station’s legal fees.

In a statement, school board Chair Elyse Dashew welcomed the ruling.

“We are very pleased that Judge Poovey recognized that we acted in good faith,” she said. “The crux of this lawsuit was about the Title IX Task Force.”

After making repeated demands that the Title IX group’s meetings should be open, WBTV sued CMS in 2021 seeking an injunction granting public access, which Superior Court Judge Eric Levinson denied.

In response, WBTV amended its complaint in 2022 to include claims where the board allegedly violated the open meetings law.

Specifically, Poovey’s May 17 order requires the board to:

Permit the public to attend in-person board meetings unless one or more board members is participating virtually during certain declarations of emergency.

Give “clear online notice” of the time and place of all regularly scheduled board meetings as well as any changes to the times and locations of closed sessions.

Start executive sessions only after making and approving a motion during the open meeting to go behind closed doors.

Provide minutes for closed sessions “so that a person not in attendance would have a reasonable understanding of what transpired,” as the law requires.

In a story this week, WBTV said the board changed how it advertised its open and closed sessions after the lawsuit was filed.

Charles Jeter, CMS’s executive director of government affairs, policy and board services, said the alleged violations occurred while the school board and other elected bodies in North Carolina were transitioning from exclusive in-person meetings to virtual sessions during the pandemic, and that the board was following guidance from the UNC School of Government and executive orders from Gov. Roy Cooper.