BOE Takes No Action on Legal Matter

The Pickens County Board of Education assembled in a called meeting this week. The purpose of the September 6th meeting was to discuss legal matters involving personnel. Scheduled to begin at 6:00 P.M., the meeting started late; Chairperson Wendy Lowe called the meeting together at approximately 6:15 P.M, making the announcement to an empty room. Immediately after the meeting was called to order, the board made a motion to go into executive session. The motion was approved unanimously.

According to the Open Records Act, executive sessions can only be called for matters concerning real estate, personnel, contract negotiations, or pending litigation. In May, following this year’s changes to the law in the Georgia Assembly, Attorney Lynn Doss clarified discussions that could constitute litigation.

“Pending litigation does not mean that a lawsuit has been filed,”

she said,

“Sometimes you have to take action to prevent a lawsuit from being filed or sometimes you have to take action where you, as a board, may have to fill some kind of litigation.”

One of the changes to the law this year is the documentation of executive session. The amendments require a staff member to take minutes while in the session, although the minutes are not public. Under certain circumstances, however, the minutes can be used. Quoting from the law, Doss said, “The Georgia Open Records Act applies to Georgia Citizens getting information from a Georgia Entity.”

The executive session lasted nearly two in a half hours, ending at approximately 8:30 P.M. Calling the meeting back into order, Chairperson Lowe announced that no action was taken. She did, however, confirm that the purpose for the session was legal matters with personnel, but did specify the nature of the matter.