BY DANI TIETZ
dani@mahometnews.com
Mahomet, Ill.- The Mahomet-Seymour School Board will open its committee meetings to the public beginning Wednesday, June 19.
The district sent the Policy Board Agenda to constituents with children enrolled in school via Skyward Monday. The Policy Committee will meet at 10:30 a.m. in the Middletown Prairie Elementary board room on Wednesday.
In an email interview, the Mahomet Daily asked Board President Max McComb the names of board members on each committee but did not receive an answer to the question. He also did not reply when asked how often the committees will meet.
After coming out of closed session at the May 20 regularly scheduled board meeting, Superintendent Lindsey Hall talked about the formation of committees, which is an annual process. Hall took names of board members who would like to serve on the policy, facilities and finance committees.
Newly elected board member Colleen Schultz also cited the Illinois Open Meetings Act which gives “the public the right to attend the meetings of public bodies or their committees” with the exception of the topics which can be discussed during closed session.
Schultz also suggested the formation of a curriculum committee while board member Meghan Hennesy suggested the formation of a behavioral committee.
During the interview, McComb said the board will continue with the three traditional committees — policy, facilities and finance — for the upcoming school year.
McComb also said that the two-person committees should have been open to the public in years prior, but that the district was unaware of the committee’s obligation to the open meetings act.
“Recently, we have learned that to be fully compliant with the Open Meetings Act, we need to post these committee meetings and make them available to the public,” McComb said.
“According to our legal counsel, it is a common misconception among school districts that when using a two-person committee, the Open Meetings Act does not apply. Since we have recently learned that the Open Meetings Act does indeed apply in this situation, we have made this immediate change to our practice to make sure we are fully compliant.”
McComb also said that many school districts do not abide by this law when their committees meet. This statement has not been verified.
According to Mahomet-Seymour School Board Code 2:150, “The School Board may establish committees to assist with the Board’s governance function and, in some situations, to comply with State law requirements. These committees are known as Board committees and report directly to the Board. Committee members may include both Board members and non-Board members depending on the committee’s purpose. The Board President makes all Board committee appointments subject to Board approval. Board committee meetings shall comply with the Open Meetings Act. A Board committee may not take final action on behalf of the Board – it may only make recommendations to the Board.”
McComb said past committees have been used as an advisory tool for the board. He does not see their function changing.
“Moving forward we are still using two-member advisory committees covering the same three areas: Finance, Facilities, and Policy,” McComb said. “They will still be advisory in nature, providing recommendations to the entire board. The only difference is they will now be posted as Open Meetings.”
[pdf-embedder url=”https://mahometdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Meeting-Packet.pdf” title=”Meeting Packet”]
