May 09, 2008 10:19 pm
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“Sunshine is the best disinfectant,” — Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis.
On Thursday, the sunshine was blocked by shade.
Brandeis is often quoted when describing open government. Open government and debate through a free press allow citizens to be informed on what their elected officials are doing, sometimes with tax dollars.
While government is open to any citizen willing to participate, the job of making sure that government stays open falls to the press. Keeping government open is a job we do not take lightly. It is, as stewards of Democracy, one of our most sacred duties as journalists.
We feel that most local government are doing a good job of following state laws about meetings. There are instances where ordinary people or journalists are not allowed in meetings, and those are spelled out in the law and covered in executive sessions.
But Thursday afternoon was not one of those instances with the Washington Community School Board. After the school administration decided to have a meeting Thursday to hire a girls basketball coach, they did not give the Times-Herald adequate notice that the meeting was to take place. It was only a few hours before that we learned the board was to meet.
Per Indiana Code 5-14-1.5-5, a government body is to notify the public and news media at least 48 hours in advance if the media requests it in writing for that year. On Dec. 31, 2007, we requested that information as per state law. On Jan. 3, we received a letter from Washington Superintendent Bruce Hatton that the Washington School Board would follow the law.
Thursday, they did not. The question now becomes why.
Hatton said in a story for Friday’s edition that it was an honest mistake. School Board President Gary Williams verbally berated a reporter for asking why notice was not given.
But their answers are not satisfactory. Why was there such a hurry to hire the new coach when there was a board meeting scheduled for the next Thursday? Also, why were newly elected board members called and not the news media?
It is not the fault of the new coach nor the committee that selected her for the job. The issue could have been any item the board is asked to decide, but unfortunately the hiring was the only item on the agenda.
By not informing the press, the school board was in effect not informing the public, since few school patrons would see a notice posted on the door at the superintendent’s office. Although a mistake could have happened, it is one that we take seriously.
We ask that in the future, the board be mindful of the law. We also have a charge for our newly-elected board members, Vicki Bubalo, Peg Stephens and Mike Traylor. And that is bring back the sunshine that has been lost in the Washington School Board for a long time.
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