The Board of Education has taken to using pseudo public meetings to discuss the public’s business. In this particular case, the meeting is technically open the public and there is a brief public presentation, but the rest of the meeting is effectively private even though it is nominally public. It is a clever technique and admittedly far less concerning than some of the other techniques the BOE uses to keep its group decision making effectively secret.
There are two threads to the discussion below. The first thread is with AACPS Public Information Officer Bob Mosier. The second is with Sienna Scott, liaison to the Anne Arundel delegation to the state legislature. I have found that adding a second thread makes it easier for me to get relevant and useful responses from Mosier.
Last year I contacted Maryland’s Open Meetings Compliance Board about the planned first version of this annual meeting. The Compliance Board did put in a query to Mosier, but Mosier did not respond prior to the actual meeting. A query to the County’s legal counsel received no reply, but the legal question may have resulted in some of the councilors dropping out of the event and a revision of the meeting format so it would appear better from a PR perspective.
The Press Release
http://www.aacpsnews.org/pressr/?p=3364
BOARD OF EDUCATION TO HOST LOCAL ELECTED OFFICIALS AT SECOND LEGISLATIVE BREAKFAST
Posted By AACPS Communications Office On In News Releases |
The Board of Education of Anne Arundel County will host elected officials representing the county and the City of Annapolis at its second Legislative Breakfast next week.
“The relationships we were able to enhance and develop and the avenues of communication we were able to open as a result of last year’s breakfast benefitted our students and our entire school system,” Board President Stacy Korbelak said. “We all have the same mission: to provide the best education possible for the approximately 81,000 students enrolled in our schools. The conversations with our city, county, and state elected officials are crucial to fulfilling that mission.”
The breakfast begins at 7:30 a.m. on Monday, December 5, in the Board Room at the Parham Building, located at 2644 Riva Road in Annapolis.
The Bob Mosier Thread
From: ‘J.H. (“Jim”) Snider’
Sent: Friday, December 02, 2016 3:58 PM
To: ‘Mosier, Bob’ <RMOSIER@AACPS.org>
Subject: RE: NEWS RELEASE: Board of Education to host local elected officials at second Legislative Breakfast
Dear Mr. Mosier:
Thank you for this information. Yes, please email me the slide presentation.
It was my understanding that the County Council breakfast last year—also a “public” meeting–did indeed have separate breakfast tables for board members to informally chat with the county councilors. If I understand you correctly, I am glad to hear that this meeting will allow the public to track the conversation above and beyond a token opening statement by a single board member.
–J.H. Snider, Editor
eLighthouse.info
From: Mosier, Bob [mailto:RMOSIER@AACPS.org]
Sent: Friday, December 02, 2016 3:55 PM
To: ‘J.H. (“Jim”) Snider’
Subject: RE: NEWS RELEASE: Board of Education to host local elected officials at second Legislative Breakfast
Mr. Snider,
At no point in my responses to you did I indicate the public would be unable to hear the presentation, as you state below. In fact, I said the opposite:
“There will be table set aside for the public to observe and listen. You (or any member of the public) are certainly free to sit at one of those tables. I would liken it to any of the number of meetings you surely have been to in the past where there is a section set aside for public audience members.”
The Board president will address attendees from a podium, as she did last year for the inaugural event. Similar to a Board meeting, there is a sound system that carries sound throughout the room. Anyone in the room will be able to hear the presentation.
As for your third point, this is not a business meeting in the sense there is an agenda with specific items being addressed, as is the case in a Board meeting. It is more aligned with (though not exactly like) a workshop. There will be a slide presentation, and I would certainly be happy to email you those slides after the meeting if you so desire. There will not be public testimony or comment, but the opportunity to observe and listen will certainly be there.
Any assertion that this meeting is somehow secretive or that measures are being taken to prevent the public from observing or listening is simply inaccurate conjecture on your part.
Sincerely
Bob Mosier
Chief Communications Officer
Anne Arundel County Public Schools
Phone: 410-222-5312
Fax: 410-222-5628
Web: www.aacps.org
Facebook: www.facebook.com/aacps
Twitter: @AACountySchools
From: ‘J.H. (“Jim”) Snider’
Sent: Friday, December 02, 2016 1:57 PM
To: Mosier, Bob <RMOSIER@AACPS.org>
Subject: RE: NEWS RELEASE: Board of Education to host local elected officials at second Legislative Breakfast
Dear Mr. Mosier:
If I understand your response correctly:
- The public can see who attends the public meeting but, as a practical matter, will not be allowed to hear what is being discussed.
- The public will not be allowed to record the proceedings.
- No public minutes of the public meeting will be taken and published on the AACPS website.
If I have misunderstood your response, please let me know.
–J.H. Snider, Editor
eLighthouse.info
From: Mosier, Bob [mailto:RMOSIER@AACPS.org]
Sent: Friday, December 02, 2016 10:52 AM
To: ‘J.H. (“Jim”) Snider’
Subject: RE: NEWS RELEASE: Board of Education to host local elected officials at second Legislative Breakfast
Mr. Snider,
The format allows for discussion between the Board and local elected officials. There will be table set aside for the public to observe and listen. You (or any member of the public) are certainly free to sit at one of those tables. I would liken it to any of the number of meetings you surely have been to in the past where there is a section set aside for public audience members.
As for the second part of your email, we may possibly be taking some still photos so if you want to do that from your seat you can certainly do so. We are not doing any recording.
Bob Mosier
Chief Communications Officer
Anne Arundel County Public Schools
Phone: 410-222-5312
Fax: 410-222-5628
Web: www.aacps.org
Facebook: www.facebook.com/aacps
Twitter: @AACountySchools
From: ‘J.H. (“Jim”) Snider’
Sent: Tuesday, November 29, 2016 1:20 PM
To: Mosier, Bob <RMOSIER@AACPS.org>
Subject: RE: NEWS RELEASE: Board of Education to host local elected officials at second Legislative Breakfast
Would it be okay for members of the public to join the legislators and school board members at the various tables where the discussions are being held? (I’m assuming the breakfast discussion has the same format as the previous county council breakfast.) Or is it public in the sense that the public can be in the room but not hear the discussions? Would it be acceptable for a member of the public to record the conversations?
From: Mosier, Bob [mailto:RMOSIER@AACPS.org]
Sent: Tuesday, November 29, 2016 1:23 PM
To: ‘J.H. (“Jim”) Snider’
Subject: RE: NEWS RELEASE: Board of Education to host local elected officials at second Legislative Breakfast
Mr. Snider,
There is no “secret” meeting. We publicized this meeting as we do all Board meeting in accordance with the Open Meetings Act. It is a meeting for Board members to host elected officials and have conversation, just as the release says.
As it is a meeting of the Board, it is open to the public.
Let me know if there is something you don’t understand.
Sincerely,
Bob Mosier
Chief Communications Officer
Anne Arundel County Public Schools
Phone: 410-222-5312
Fax: 410-222-5628
Web: www.aacps.org
Facebook: www.facebook.com/aacps
Twitter: @AACountySchools
From: ‘J.H. (“Jim”) Snider’
Sent: Tuesday, November 29, 2016 1:01 PM
To: Mosier, Bob <RMOSIER@AACPS.org>
Subject: RE: NEWS RELEASE: Board of Education to host local elected officials at second Legislative Breakfast
Is the breakfast a public or secret meeting? If it’s public, how would that work in practice?
–J.H. Snider, Editor
eLighthouse.info
From: Mosier, Bob [mailto:RMOSIER@AACPS.org]
Sent: Tuesday, November 29, 2016 11:12 AM
To: Mosier, Bob <RMOSIER@AACPS.org>
Subject: NEWS RELEASE: Board of Education to host local elected officials at second Legislative Breakfast
Please click on the link below for the latest news release from the AACPS Communications Office.
http://www.aacpsnews.org/pressr/?p=3364
Bob Mosier
Chief Communications Officer
Anne Arundel County Public Schools
Phone: 410-222-5312
Fax: 410-222-5628
Web: www.aacps.org
Facebook: www.facebook.com/aacps
Twitter: @AACountySchools
The Sienna Scott Thread
From: J.H. (“Jim”) Snider
Sent: Friday, December 02, 2016 2:10 PM
To: ‘Anne Arundel County Delegation’ <AnneArundel.CountyDelegation@mlis.state.md.us>
Subject: RE: The second legislative breakfast with the Anne Arundel Board of Education
Dear Ms. Scott:
As I said I would in my email to you yesterday, I followed up with a call to you just before noon today and again a few minutes ago. Please call me back before 5:00 pm today so that I can get my questions answered. Based on past precedent, I understand the conditions surrounding this public meeting to be as follows:
- As a practical matter, the public can see who attends the public meeting but will not be allowed to hear what is being discussed.
- As a practical matter, the public will not be allowed to record the proceedings.
- No public minutes of the public meeting will be taken and published.
Sincerely,
–J.H. Snider, Editor
eLighthouse.info
From: ‘J.H. (“Jim”) Snider’
Sent: Thursday, December 01, 2016 2:15 PM
To: ‘Anne Arundel County Delegation’ <AnneArundel.CountyDelegation@mlis.state.md.us>
Subject: The second legislative breakfast with the Anne Arundel Board of Education
Dear Ms. Scott:
On December 5 at 7:30 am the Anne Arundel Board of Education will be hosting a public breakfast meeting including Anne Arundel County delegates to the Maryland General Assembly. Please clarify the nature of this public meeting. Will minutes of this public meeting be recorded? Will the delegates be sitting at a single large table or multiple smaller tables to facilitate conversation? Can a member of the public join one of those tables or must the public be segregated away from the tables and out of ear range?
If I don’t hear back from you by midday tomorrow, I will follow up with a call.
Sincerely,
–J.H. Snider, Editor
eLighthouse.info