Code No. 214

Board of Directors

Closed Sessions

Generally, board meetings shall be open meetings, unless a closed session is authorized.  The board will hold a closed meeting in the situations stated below.

Exceptions to the Open Meetings Law

The following closed meetings take place as part of an open meeting.  The item for discussion in the closed meeting shall be listed as part of the tentative agenda on the public meeting notice.  The motion for a closed meeting, stating the purpose for the closed meeting, shall be made and seconded during the open meeting.  Five members of the board, or all of the board members present must vote in favor of the motion on a roll call vote.  Closed meetings shall be tape recorded and have detailed minutes kept.

The minutes and the tape recording will restate the motion made in the open meeting, the roll call vote, the members present, and the time the closed session began and ended.  The tape recordings and minutes shall be kept for one year from the date of the meeting.  Real estate related minutes and tapes will be made public after the real estate transaction is completed or abandoned.

Other than the courts, only the board, authorized administrators, and persons present at the closed meeting may listen to the tape or review the minutes.  Persons who were present at the closed meeting may only listen to the tape or review the minutes for the portion of the meeting for which they were present.  The board has complete discretion as to who may be present in any closed session.

Final action on matters discussed in the closed meeting shall be taken in an open meeting.  Reasons for the board entering into a closed meeting from a public meeting include, but are not limited to, the following:

            1.         To review or discuss records which are required or authorized by state or federal law to be kept confidential, or to be kept confidential as a condition for the board’s possession or receipt of federal funds.

            2.         To discuss strategy with legal counsel in matters presently in litigation, or where litigation is imminent, if disclosure would be to the disadvantage of the board.

            3.         To discuss whether to conduct a hearing for suspension or expulsion of a                                                student, unless an open session is requested by the student or his parent or guardian.

4.                  To discuss specific law enforcement matters which, if disclosed, would enable law violators to avoid detection.

            5.         To evaluate the professional competence of an individual whose appointment,  hiring, performance, or discharge is being considered, when a closed session is necessary to prevent needless and irreparable injury to that individual’s reputation and when the individual requests a closed session.

            6.         To discuss the purchase of particular real estate, but only when premature disclosure could be reasonably expected to increase the price the board  would have to pay for the property.

Exemptions to the Open Meetings Law

Meetings of this type are exempt from the open session requirements, they can be held

without public notice, be separate from any open public meeting, be held without taping the meeting or taking minutes, and be held without a vote or motion.  The board may hold a

closed meeting for the following:

            1.         All negotiation’s meetings, except the first two, between a certified bargaining unit unless both parties mutually agree to bargain in open sessions.

            2.         Any meeting at any time to discuss negotiation strategy regarding a certified bargaining unit, to discuss     negotiation strategy for groups of employees not ncluded in a certified bargaining unit, and to conduct a private hearing relating

to the recommended termination of a teacher’s contract and the teacher requested said private hearing.

            3.         To conduct a private hearing relating to the termination of a teacher’s contract. The private hearing in the teacher’s contract termination shall be recorded verbatim by a court reporter. 

            4.         To conduct a private hearing relating to the termination of a probationary administrator’s contract or to review the proposed decision of the administrative  law judge regarding the termination of an administrator’s contract.

Legal Reference:     Iowa Code Chapters 20, 21, 22.7, 279.15, 279.16, .24 (2003).

                                 1982 Op. Att’y Gen. 162.

Cross Reference:    200   School Board Meetings

                                 200   Open Meetings of the School Board

                                 200   School Board Meeting Agenda

Approved:     April 10, 1989         

Reviewed:    February 22. 2005   

Revised:       February 22, 2005